[IanW]

Okay, i know that there are many threads about the 3800 freezing, and I have been involved in some about the A1, but anyway, got some more findings. . . .

Finally, I am getting a bit hacked off with the freezing on my A1, my local dealer has been really good and offered me a loan A1 whilst mine goes away for repair (see what Haydon say!). But my dealer recommended putting in a couple of DVDs to show the problem, what a good idea I thought, so with this in mind I have been extra vigilent whilst watching films. . .

Watching the R2 Bourne Identity the other night and the film froze for a second or so a couple of times during the film, so I noted the exact place, but when i then went back to these places after watching the film, the bl**dy player did not freeze again. Has anyone else seen this, when your player freezes are you able to reproduce this at will? The only disc that i have been able to reproduce at will is R2 Thomas Crown Affair!

Has anyone had their player sent back to Haydon yet about this? Has anyone had this fixed yet?

As always, your thoughts please.

Thanks.

Ian.

[Jasonjo]

Ian,

Can only comment from my 3800 point of view, but think the issue is down to the same laser pickup problems.

I am currently awaiting for denon to contact me and tell me that the new laser pickups ordered from japan have arrived - once they have I am going to get my player sent off and the laser pickup replaced. I am not sure whether the 3800 and A1 share the same laser pickup, but it is very likely.

I haven't seen the issue that much, but have noticed it on the second half of Star Wars II (R1) and LOTR Extended (R1)

Maybe you should call them direct and disuss the new laser pickups/freezing - unfortunately denon dont give too much away so you may need to drive the conversation with what you have gleamed from the forum...

HTH

JJ

[BabylonP]

Ian

My DVD A1 (July02) was also feezing etc which was replaced by the supplier for a Dec02 model. The problem was that the new player was outputting black and white pictures from composite/S-video and scart, the player is currently at Hayden Labs. Whats even more funny is the component output was fine for both PAL & NTSC prog scan.

The new player however does indeed have the new laser and the chroma firmware fix built into the silicon of the ESS chip.

I do agree with your comment about the freezing being random but this is typical of the laser problem for both the A1 and the 3800.

Hope you get it resolved soon

Phil

[Jules]

I've had 2 DVD A1's.
The first one was July 02, and it froze on quite a few of my discs.
But was really bad on the Fifth Element (R1).

The machine I have now is a 10/02 replacement and has different firmware numbers.
It still freezes on the Fifth Element (in several places), but has not frozen on any other of my discs to date, including Star Wars Episode II (R1).

I'm half willing to accept that my copy of the Fifth Element is at fault (even though it plays fine on my Pio 737), but if it happens once more on any other disc, its going back!! .

I'm taking a bit of comfort from the fact that the version of DRV is 6193-2, which (according to others on this forum) indicates it has the new laser. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Its really poor that you shelve out £2500 on a DVD Player and worry about its reliability.
I was going to sell my Pio 737, but I've decided to keep it in case anything goes wrong with A1. Very pooh!

On another not, I'm still waiting for Denon to announce the Denon Link SE upgrade for my KAVCA1SE Amplifer. Aarghh!

Jules

[klnc]

Not really an answer to your question, but mine is a 10/02 model and has never frozen on anything..

[BabylonP]

Jules

When I took my player into Hayden labs I asked Roger Bachelor about the Denonlink SE upgrade for my A1SR. He said they are expecting to start carrying out the upgrades some time during April when they get the stuff from denon Japan.

Phil

[klnc]

sooner the better... I've had nothing but cryptic responses out of Hayden. It's realy frustrating having an SE A1 and a non SE A1SR....

[BabylonP]

Tell me about it.

I did try and suggest that when I went to pick my A1 up they could do the SE update on the A1SR at the same time. Its only a software upgrade I said surely you must have the code by now. But alas no go

[klnc]

Phil,

Did they give the impression you could drop it off and they'd be able to do it while you wait? I don't live that far from them, and I'd rather not take the amp back to my dealer, which is almost as far away as Hayden, and then wait a week for it to come back.

[BabylonP]

Snap I live 20 mins down the road from them so it makes much more sense for me to take it in. Less cost and less possible trouble with couriers.

When I asked they certainly seemed open to me bringing it in as they have a service desk at the side of the building. In principle I cannot see why they should not be able to carry it out while you wait if its just a firmware download. Obviously you would have to book it in and get a job number which is what I have had to do for the A1.

Well lets hope so as this would give me a day turn around

[IanW]

Okay then peeps, the A1 went back to the dealer yesterday. They are not open on Monday, so I have to wait until Tuesday to hear what Haydon are going to do about it.

Funny thing thing though, instead of giving me an A1 on loan they have given me an Arcam DV88, but not just any old DV88, it is my old one that I traded in on the A1

I will keep you advised.

For information purposes I noted down my firmware details before sending it away.

Firmware:
DRV: 6100
ESS: 625P
PANEL: 6091

Serial Num: 20615*****

Ian.

[IanW]

Got the A1 back from Haydon Labs and they have replaced the drive mechanism, and yes it now works on Thomas Crown Affair (R2). However, the player is now freezing on more films than it was before

The A1 is going back to Haydon again today as they would like to have another go at fixing the problem. I have told them that if they do not fix it next time I want a new player. Surely it is not too much to expect that when you spend £2500 on a DVD player, you should not have these problems.

I will keep you informed.

Ian.

[Nic Rhodes]

ditch it and walk away,

[IanW]

So Hayden did the decent thing and agree to give me another player. However, I went to pick up the player from the dealer that I use, and just as I was walking out the door the guy said to me "Oh, you will want the multi-region upgrade won't you?". To which of course I responded "Yes". Half way through the upgrade the guy thought that he was doing the upgrade wrong and switched off the player whilst the firmware was being overwritten. The net result of this was that the player was completely killed and had to be sent back to Hayden, it would not even eject the tray.

Instead of making me wait for the player to be repaired, the dealer ordered another new A1 for me. I now have this home and have started watching films, hopefully this will be the end??????????????

Ian.

[Spligsey]

This is sheer madness!

I cant believe the problems you guys have had....

Totally & utterly unacceptable.

If you ever get a model that works fine, sell it immediately.

Spligs.