In June 2002, White’s began production of a new multi-purpose tracking detector -  the MXT. It has been very well received by a wide variety of detector users because of its flexibility, power and ease of use.  I have heard several dealers say that it’s the best selling detector they’ve had in years, and there is little argument about how popular this machine has become.

The MXT is indeed a bit different from most other detectors. Many detector manufacturers produce specialty detectors for certain applications. Many also produce "general purpose" machines. The most basic "unusual" thing about the MXT is that it's a "general purpose" machine developed out of the architecture of a gold specialty machine (see the MXT engineering report at the White's website - it can be accessed by CLICKING HERE). The original design concept was to add target ID and other adjustments to turn the then new GMT into a multipurpose unit. Although there are always trade offs in any design, there are many benefits that result from turning a gold machine into a multi purpose unit. Because of this, the MXT is a good gold detector with an excellent ID, as well as a coin and relic detector with the high gain of a gold machine.

It is often said that there is no one detector that can do it all perfectly. This a true statement. The goal of "general purpose" machines is to do as many of the specialty applications as well as possible. This always requires some degree of compromise in the design of the detector. No general purpose machine can do all the specialty  applications as well as a set of detectors, each designed for a specific special purpose. The compromises made to produce the MXT include the operating frequency (high for a coin machine, a bit low for a gold machine); simplicity of operation (simple to use, but lacks ability to make some detailed adjustments) and a bit noisy (caused by the high gain needed to detect nuggets and analysis software that wants to keep marginal targets). However, with all its compromises, the MXT does an excellent job in a wide variety of conditions. In my opinion, it is 95% as good as the GMT at nugget detecting, and competes well at coin and jewelry detecting with the best of that class, especially on low conductivity targets. This makes the MXT a great machine for deep, old, gold jewelry. The pros and cons of the MXT are discussed on a special page "MXT Advantages and Dis-Advantages" on this web site.

Many MXT buyers with previous detector experience are interested in taking advantage of the special attributes of the MXT. Chief among these are:
1) Because it is developed out of a gold machine, the MXT has a special sensitivity to low conductivity targets. This includes not just gold nuggets, but also gold rings, gold earrings and nickels.
2) Gold specialty machines need higher than average gain to detect small gold targets. Because it is developed from the GMT gold detector, the MXT shares its high gain capability. This same gain gives the MXT the ability to find targets, especially lower conductivity ones, that are deeply buried. Of course there are limits to the VLF (induction balance) technology, but the MXT gets as much as is possible out of this type of design.
3) The MXT is appreciated by many users for its ease of use. It has more than enough flexibility for most users, and does this without the programming required on some other models, which some users find difficult. Because of its simple operations, even new users find it easy to learn, and they are quickly able to find and identify good targets. As a result, it is a good machine for first time detector buyers.

The bottom line is that there is a very high satisfaction rate among those who have purchased an MXT. The  overwhelming percentage think it is a super product, and worthy of the praise it is so often given. If you are considering the purchase of an MXT, you should also take a look at both the  MXT FAQ page and the Pros and Cons page (which also has info comparing the MXT and the DFX) on this website.