Upgrading. Marcum LX6 or Vex FL20

[bronvike21]

I currently have a Vex 8 but want to upgrade. Tired of the noise of the flasher so need to go other direction. Anyone have experience with the LX6? Vexilar FL20? Which of those two would be the best?
Thanks

[perch_stalker]

I have the Marcum LX7, which is the same as the LX6, only with the bigger screen. They are completely silent. I don't have any experience with the Vexilar FL20, but I would think they would still have some noise, being they are not digital. I could be wrong though.
As far as the LX6 & 7, they are great units! I absolutely love that you can pick and choose which options you want to view on the screen, and you also get the graph mode with the Marcum. And they are fully upgradable with the future downloads from Marcum.
It all comes down to what you want in a unit. There are a ton of people that are happy with the Vexilars, and there are just as many that like the Marcums. I'm not steering you one way or the other. Good luck in choosing which one best suits your needs.

[BlackDogAlpha]

I have the Lx6 and I think its the best under $1000. I chose not to go to the larger screen, unless you plan on adding a camera. I like everything about the Lx6/7, it has multiple ways to set up the screen, depth, chart mode. The Vex only has the dial. If you can get a real good deal and thats not an issue, simple works. It seems a lot of guys are diehards on the Vex, usually from owning earlier versions. The marcum takes about 5 minutes for a tech noob to set up, its then a matter of how you want the screens to line up. I would check out the Youtube videos, surprisingly Marcum doesnt have a real good video, a lot of one shots.

[3300]

be the best?
vex is analog and marcum 6 and up is digital and updateable in features and stability.

like the others mentions, the display is configurable to what you want to see on it, from the choices it has to pick from and you can have up to four at a time because its a flat screen monitor. it is also useable for open water with their optional transom/troller mount transducer.

the way you use either are not the same at all. the vex has a swim noodle wrapped around the ducer cable and you throw that mess into your hole and try to fish around it.
marcum uses an arm that holds the ducer in place with only an inch of the bottom of the puck in the water, you can leave it there while landing fish most times because hardly any of it is in the way.

then you have the processing power of either unit on how it process's the data to show you. even the showdown is not nearly as good.

if you like loud noise and spinning lights and a unit you can not upgrade ever, buy a vex.

[splakeshaker]

The graph display is the deal breaker for me. It's a different world for a lot of reasons. From fish activities to jigging activities. It give you a different perspective and time to mentally process information with the history the graph provides. It's like looking through different eyes.

[bigstorm]

 I went from the HB ICE35 to the LX6 and was amazed at the difference. The ICE35 worked good except when fishing in deep water for perch (this was the main reason for the upgrade). Once I got the LX6, not only does it run silent, but you have multiple options for what type of display you want to see, either the round dial/flasher, the graph like an open water locator or the vertical like a showdown (or any combination of these displays at once). Another feature I like is that the display shows you how big of an area you are seeing on the bottom based on the cone angle setting and the depth

[splakeshaker]

You're not just pitting flasher vs flasher. You pitting flasher vs flasher/ graph/ showdown and display options. Used vexilars for  years and years. Never had a problem with them ever. Ever! Great machines.  If vex would put out a unit that could compare with the lx6/7 it would be a worthy debate. But they don't.

[bronvike21]

Thanks everyone for the input. I've decided to get the Marcum LX6. Seems to be perfect for my needs. So now the question of where to buy unit. Seems like the unit is map priced from Marcum at $599 although I did see it for $549 at another site. Can't remember exactly which one so need to search once again.
Unit will go good with my Marcum PanCam I got last year.
Thanks again for the input

[3300]

read the black friday posts on here. we suggest how to find the deals in those posts.
to shorten it up a tad, wait for black friday/cyber week sales and hope there is one on what you want in a couple weeks. maybe sooner if any one starts pre black friday/cyber week sales

read here every day for them too. thats how i found my lx7 on sale after the sale was on here and reeds sold it on sale anyway, but i was on the phone with them to inquire about it and he honored it anyway.

i was on the hunt for it too and missed any ads for it.
sending my lx7 in today for the conversion to the lx9. costs 523$. you can't do that with the lx6. they said it takes a day. i was going to buy their rt9, but where i fish there are no gps maps, so no reason to buy it. i might buy the aqua-vu micro5 later too so my wife can have a cam to go with the ice55.

[Crappielover89]

I currently have a Vex 8 but want to upgrade. Tired of the noise of the flasher so need to go other direction. Anyone have experience with the LX6? Vexilar FL20? Which of those two would be the best?
Thanks

I have the LX7 and a friend has the 6. The 7 is the better way to go in my opinion.  I know a sight that has the LX7 for $636 or something good like that and no tax. Pm me if interested. I got my last 7 from this sight two years ago for $600 they do good deals every year on them.

[bronvike21]

Well, maybe I should go the lx7. Sent ya a pm crappie.

[3300]

I have the LX7 and a friend has the 6. The 7 is the better way to go in my opinion.  I know a sight that has the LX7 for $636 or something good like that and no tax. Pm me if interested. I got my last 7 from this sight two years ago for $600 they do good deals every year on them.

maybe the same place i bought mine. was under 600$ just after thanks giving. if you can hold on, you might get even a better deal on it.

i just mailed my lx7 to become an lx9. i might look into a water infrared flashlight to add to the mix. marcum uses bright white led's instead.

[Gillgrabber]

I have an LX6 and love it.  I like the digital format which allows upgrades AND I love the ability to scroll between screens or have split screens.  Long battery life is a plus. 
And it is quiet....so quiet that I can almost talk to the fish.  :-)
I bought mine on sale.  They usually have some great deals at the St. Paul or Milwaukee Ice Fishing Shows, but I guess that won't help you much being in Colorado.  Maybe they'll extend the same price if you call them. 

[DFresh75]

LX6 is a Cadillac unit with that graph.  I love it! 

The real difference is having the ability to see any change in bottom contour.  Hard to tell that with a traditional flasher.