Funny, I did have an Infocus IN76 and my wife DID make the same comment, other than she is RBE sensitive, so I had to unload it. Along the way, I also had old Panny models but not the ae2000 but got the Sanyo z4000 instead. Contrast specs were way over exagerated. I unload my pj's quite fast.
The only time she noticed was when I upgrade to the JVC, a huge jump in depth and contrast, almost CRT-black.
IMHO, you will definitely see more clarity/details due to sheer number of pixels. Don't know what your budget is but moving from DLP to LCD is not something I would do again, but would look for something like a JVC or Sony LCoS projector. There are couple in AVS and videogon listed. If it's not for RBE and fan noise, DLP gives a sharper picture than LCD, and LCoS. LCD and LCoS do give you a lot of flexibility for installation. Panny also offers a lot of features for the money, but none that I care for. Ultimately I love to watch a great movie more than sports or games. The Sony is more versatile in these aspects than the JVC.
In the last 10 years, I have pretty much own most of the mid to low end pjs, a typical AVS junkie.