Great sound qualaty, handels everything I can throw at it (Rap, Hip Hop, Rock, Pop, etc...

None

Me and my dad have had the Nad 3020A for over 20 years now and we have never had any problems with it. The sound is superbe, it never cuts out, its more then powerfull enough for the Mirage 450 loud speakers we have. I don`t have to much experience with Amps but from what I have seen the Nad 3020A deserves all the good ratings that it ha been given. I use it with our computer to play Mp3s or CD's and with a nomber of other things to be able to play tapes, AM and FM radio stations. It`s simple and worth the money. by the way the reson it costed around 400$ is that its Canadian money.

simply musical. Nothing more, nothing less

Mechanically weack.

The sound is extremely natural soft but all details are there.
Sound pressure is relatively high (20 watts can not made miracles) but even at highest level the sound remains clear and defined.

Today I use it with AR 3A speakers (low efficiency but believe me the sound pressure is enough for 30 square meter room) previously used with ESB and RCF speackers (italian brands).

I purchased it in 1978 (is a "fist serie" type) and went for maintenance first time one month ago (oxidation of some contacts)after 23 years from purchase and average 4 hors per day working time.

One of best purchase I made on Hi Fi.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz 6060, Marantz 70 series

not sure

switches tho they only pop off if you let them flick out

I got my3020 from my dad who had jsut left it in a cupboard. I used to have trouble with one of the channels just cutting out but that seems to fix itself most of the time. I did have it runnning a pair of AR speakers but when the ageing seal on the woofers collapsed i had to ditch them and go for som cheap stuff from tandy. Still sounds amazing even though its a really early model as are the tweeters. Does anyone know what soft clipping actually does?

Similar Products Used:

noen

value, can be used as a pre-amp

selection buttons (after about 10 years)

In 1983 I bought the NAD along with a Rega Planer 2 and Heybrook HB1 speakers. Budget stuff but amazing sound for the time. It was some 10 years before I took the next step on the ladder when the selection buttons became too annoying. The quality of the switches meant that the contacts wore out. Before that happened I'd started to use the pre-amp to drive a QUAD 303 power amp with good effect.

This is a budget amp, but a very good (certainly the best at the time). I have no hesitation in giving it 5 stars for sound in its price range and giving only 5 starts for value is an injustice.

I still use it in my second system with a circa '84 Philips CD player and Mission 752s which still provides reasonably good sound. I have to use the tape input though as the remaining line inputs are dead.

This classic amplifier has been updated to clean up the high gain sectionof the Preamp that is responsible for the volume and tone controls.
AC coupling electrolytic caps are no longer needed and are removed due
to the elmination of tone and balance controls.

See NAD 3020 modified
for details.

The effects of the modification are very palpable on good recordings of
small Jazz Quartets. The left to right imaging coupled with the increase
in depth give a heighten sense of depth. The better components give
better clarity at low volumes and encourage you to turn up the volume
as the onset of distortion is delayed until higher levels. All in all
a very good and simple set of mods giving a good product with a
reputation of a "frosted and rose coloured sound" a more up to date
and less euphoric but more accurate sound of what is on the CD.
On good CDs the results are amazing.

I bouhgt the NAD 3020 for $50
For that price it is an outstanding little amplifier, rated 2x20(28)W RMS/8ohm
You can use it as a preamp to.
It´s a very old model, but if you can find it, buy it !

Spend the rest of your money on a cd-player, speakers, and cables.

I had my NAD 3020 for 8 years now and it definitely is one of the best buys, audio and otherwise, that I have made. First of all I haven't had any trouble with it, I mean, it can really be relied upon. Secondly, although it is old, the simplicity of the design means that you do not need all of those lights and gizmos you get on other makes. It is really very user friendly - just turn the volume knob to get true crisp and clear sound. I will definitely recommend buying one even if second hand. Sadly I have to upgrade now, surround sound from a NAD AV 711!

I have had my NAD 3020 amplifier for 20 years since it first came out and I think it still sounds good 20 years on , 1999. At the same time I bought the tuner and cassette deck to go with it and a pair of phillips 482 speakers which sound o.k. The system is still going strong! " touch wood "
Quite recently I just bought a NAD C340 intergrated amlifier which sounds great with the NAD 524 cd player and acoustic energy aegis one's on it which cost a bit to buy.

If you you are into hi-fi systems go towards NAD.

I don't really know if I qualify as an "Audio Enthusiast", but I do own an NAD 3020 Int. Amp. AS a matter of fact, I'm an original owner. I seem to remember paying about $186.00 over 20 years ago. ANyway (all of that aside) I just wanted to state that I really love this little amp. The Bass is deep, the Mid-range is on the money and very natural. And, the Highs are present, but could use a little more help (very little). What more can one ask for, it creates a great listening experience.
Unfortunately, I decided to upgrade the 3020 (just recently) to a newer NAD model.

Reason: My 3020 had been experiencing occasional right channel "cut-out". Probably due to dirty selector switches (or some other minor problem). But, I decided (after 20 years) to treat myself to some new equipment anyway.

Results: After 2 months of listening (and comparing) the NAD 314 to the 3020, I came to the conclusion that the 3020 produces a more present (and detailed) bottom end. So....I decided to send the 314 back to the store to exchange it for the NAD c340 (which I hear has a better bass response).

As to the NAD 3020. I wouldn't part with it for the world. I may even try to get the selctor switches tweaked a bit. But, in any case, I will keep it. And continue to use it as a second system. Probably in my bed-room. Thanks for listening.

I picked up my "new" 3020 at a swapmeet for $40 not even knowing if it would work, but after plugging it in and cleaning the selector switches with tuner cleaner (they seem to pick up dust very easily), it appears to work perfectly.
I'm using it to drive a pair of 20-year-old EPI A70 speakers for my home computer, but I've also hooked up a tuner and CD player, and even considering it's advanced age, it sounds sweet and natural.

The sound quality is amazing for what it was when introduced and what it is now. Imaging, tone quality, lack of "harshness" or "fatigue", all very good. I haven't tested the phono stage, but the line-level CD (Kenwood portable at the moment) and tuner (old Mitsubishi DA-F20) sound great.

When NAD built this amp, it's obvious they built the quality into the sound and not into the front-panel controls or the rear-panel connectors. The front panel on the 3020 has the classic NAD simplicity, with four plastic knobs (volume, bass, treble and balance), and seven switches (power, aux, tuner, phono, tape, audio muting and loudness). The switches are easy-to-lose little cubes of plastic -- and apparently somewhat hard to replace. The front panel itself is somewhat cheap-feeling plastic, held on with four little screws, and is scratched and cracked on my example (evidence of a hard working life in a research lab). The rest of the case is metal (also battered on mine), and is pretty solid.

The rear panel is a funky design, with the inputs all pointing upward from a panel that juts out from the bottom rear. One of my RCA inputs is loose, and they all feel kind of cheesy. Everything is clearly labeled. From reading around the net, the correct placement of the jumpers between pre-amp and amp is on the "lab in" side (evidently, the other placement rolled off some frequencies to reduce turntable wow and flutter).

From reading around the net, apparently there are variations in the 3020, consisting of minor differences in colors and the "loudness" and "muting" controls.

Even though the 3020 has been out of production for a number of years, this little amplifier is absolutely, positively the best $40 component that money can buy. Five speakers for an outstanding value.