Marcum showdown 5.6

[GOTICE?]

I’m purchasing a used marcum showdown tomorrow and looking for some pros and cons about it. I already have a vex 18 and love it. I’m buying a two man clam nanook and the marcum for 250$ and really I just want the clam and probably sell the marcum unless I decide I like better than the vexilar. So any opinions would be appreciated. 

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I’m purchasing a used marcum showdown tomorrow and looking for some pros and cons about it. I already have a vex 18 and love it. I’m buying a two man clam nanook and the marcum for 250$ and really I just want the clam and probably sell the marcum unless I decide I like better than the vexilar. So any opinions would be appreciated.

Vex fl18 is a far far better unit.

The showdown is grey scale vs color on the vex
The showdown can't show zoom and full water  at same time. The vex can
The showdown can fit down a hole vex shouldn't fit
Showdown works, but there is a reason it is discontinued while the flashers aren't.

[Chris338378]

I have a Showdown and am a fan of it.  I like looking at a vertical screen rather than a circle with flashing colors because it's simpler to understand, the top of the screen is the top of the water column and the bottom is the bottom.  It's true you can't zoom and watch the entire water column.  As for the grey scale that's no big deal to me because it's a bit easier on the eyes than a flashing multi-colored circle and no buzzing noise.  I don't know the target separation on the Vex off the top of my head but it's 1/2 inch on the Showdown.  Also the Showdown is digital so no motors or brushes to burn up like with the Vexilar.  When I was buying my Showdown I did a lot of research and I ended up going with it because it was easier to understand opposed to a Vexilar, a good bit cheaper, when it comes to Vexilar you're paying for the name, and their technology is old school mechanical opposed to modern digital technology. 

[sunniewally]

Love my showdown! I do have a flasher but only use it as a second. Hate the spinning dial!

[BigSling]

I have 2 I bring for the wife/son or to let others borrow. They're great for folks new-ish to ice fishing as the vertical display is easy to understand.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Make sure it is running the 5.6 software......once the 5.6 came out the unit worked decent, but versions before the 5.6 software where pretty much junk.

I got the Aqua vu vertical pixel graph for $99 then upgraded it all the way to the 5.6 showdown software. I sold it for $250 and got a vex fl18.

[3300]

the showdown originally built by aqua-vu and used older software and later sold to marcum which offered dual beam was a nice unit for the money. it led to the colored version of it now called marcum lx-6, lx-7 and lx-9. they are digital sonars. the screen display on showdown is old tech that needs a heater that is incorporated for when the temps make it sluggish while the digital lx series does not need it at all.
these digital lx units have dual beam and a graph and a much better designed sonar engine and software and screen display that allows for up to 6 charts to be displayed at the same time.
you can see the huge differences when used side by side in various conditions. example would be fishing plankton. the showdown will not allow tiny jigs to be distinguished while the digital lx series does and does it well. the plankton can be tuned out for about 1.5 hours after the showdown no longer can discriminate. at that point, you can still see your jig and the plankton and keep fishing. you don't know the differences unless you can use them side by side in the same conditions.

i bought an original showdown for a friend for 175$ new from a retail store. retail was 225$ i believe. software upgrades were 50$ every time a new version came out and there were not many versions. the final version 5.6 is the latest. the reason it cost money to upgrade is because aqua-vu designed it so the end user could not update the software.

marcum wanted it for the design so they could improve upon it by making colored versions with graph.
they also raised the price of the marcum showdown to 400$ retail.
based on that, a used dual beam marcum showdown should be worth at least half price so your not paying much for it. should be less if it's a single beam. single beams sold for 350$.

i used to use my hb ice-55 which was my first sonar and hated it. i bought the lx7 and later upgraded it into the the lx-9 with camera. i do not miss the bright spinning lights especially at night and low light conditions, no graph, loud and not nearly as well thought out unit.

i would give it a try at least and see what you think about it. you might like it. a buddy wanted a first sonar so he bought the showdown. later that season his son took it and left his vex with my friend. my buddy hates the vex.

[Peccavi18]

I researched and went with a Showdown 5.6 as my first graph. I liked that it was top down viewing not a circle and is small. I've fished with it for 3 years and love it. Plenty of friends have used it and all have commented on how easy it is to use. Over the years I have got to try a few different Vexilars fl8, Fl20, and the 18, all worked well but just not my style.  I upgraded to a LX7 over the summer have had it out on the boats a few times just playing around with it. Love the screen on the LX7 can't wait to get it on th ice, gonna mod the base a little here and see if I can shed some weight though, I run and gun alot. Won't be getting rid of the 5.6 though.