That's because you are asking a very difficult question. Most people don't have both detectors to compare. For surf and beach hunting you have to decide what kind of detecting you are going to do. Is it a combination of turf and surf, or surf only. Beach only, you should go with the excal mainly beach it was designed for that environment. the CTX handles the beach great but it's NOT waterproof like the excal is. You don't need a VDI for beach hunting. Al you should be avoiding is iron.
As for swing speed, you have been listening to people who know WTF they are talking about. You can whip either coil like a weed-whacker and hit targets just great (speed wise, not parabola arc swing). You need to slow down when you are in heavy trash, but that doesn't mean that is the only way to swing these coils.
If you are determined to avoid zincs, then the CTX has an unbelievably better discrimination than the Excal.
As for swing speed, you have been listening to people who know WTF they are talking about. You can whip either coil like a weed-whacker and hit targets just great (speed wise, not parabola arc swing). You need to slow down when you are in heavy trash, but that doesn't mean that is the only way to swing these coils.
If you are determined to avoid zincs, then the CTX has an unbelievably better discrimination than the Excal.