upgrade purchase, what would you go for?

[Bristol Pete]

Hi,

Current AE300 owner more than happy with it but looking at two possible upgrades to improve things further -

1. New progressive PAL/NTSC DVD player. Denon perhaps?

or

2. I-scan Ultra. (keep current DVD deck).

I have zero experience of I-scan ultra but I understand that it can make images look high definition.

However, as far as I am aware, the downside is audio delay which may mean a purchase of a new amp with an audio delay option. Iscan offers prog scan et al.

Anyway, thats it, what would you consider to be a better buy?

Thanks,

Cap

[Gary Lightfoot]

Army Bloke has a Panasonic S75 which I've seen on my HT1000 (very detailed player, and excellent value at £119), and he uses it with an Iscan for PAL progressive into his Sony HS1. There wasn't any audio delay that I noticed.

I was impressed by the image as it looked very smooth and no visible artefacts. A god combination as far as I can tell.

There seem to be a few high end players which seem to have issues the cheaper models don't, so perhaps the Iscan is a good compromise with the known image quality of your existing player.

They can be picked up for less than £400 new, and a fair bit less second hand. Maybe you could pay a visit to the classifieds.

Gary.

[Bristol Pete]

Thats something to think about.

My local dealer is offering me Iscan ultra at a staggering £950.00 , which is far to much. However, I may take him up on his offer of a weekend long demo and then tell him it caused too much audio delay and get it elsewhere if I like it.
Slightly dishonest tactics but prudent when you consider I can get it £400.00 cheaper at av-sales.

In his words I scan is superb. He said that the improvement is great but you really notice it when you take it away so to speak. He also claims that it would make my games consoles eye poppingly good as well.

Thanks for your input, and why oh why did I choose such an expensive hobby

Cap

[Messiah]

Cap

There was an iscan ultra available in the classifieds for £350. Not sure if it's gone but I was very tempted myself at that price (not that I need it just a damn good price).

[JUS]

I have an Iscan Ultra. I love it. I do have lip sync problems though. It's more apparent on some movies but it is there on all..we are only talking about a few milliseconds but it does put it out..I found Phantom menace to be unwatchable (not just because of the naff story and ropey acting). Funny enough I don't notice the delay with freeview. I'm going to buy a Denon 3803 on Monday to sort this out...oh yes....and a Pio 565 dvd player for SACD and dvd-a ...oh yes then I'll have to buy some more speakers to make the most of the 7.1 amp...never ends...to my wifes dismay

For me it wasn't an eye popping experiece. Definitely better though.

[lscolman]

I have the iscan ultra, and I also believe that it adds quite a bit of audio delay to some sources. I have found that setting an audio delay of 60ms on my Denon A1 amp, solves the problem.