Nad 3020A Amplifier what a cracker!!

[dantheman91]

Hi


bought this amplifier for a ? boxed and everything in near mint condition and im loving the sound it produces a retro CLASSIC. anything you chuck at it it plays it this is a keeper paired with a pair of wharfedale diamond V'S



Dan

[Dingdong]

Nice one. I think those older amps seem underrated.
I sold an old Arcam Alpha to someone recently who was so happy with it he used it instead of his Quad II's.

[dantheman91]

oh dear instead of quad 11's must be good thats mad

[Rare Bird]

Whats mad about that?

[Dingdong]

I've never heard Quad II's myself. I think he went on to find himself an A60 shortly after. Seemed to be as happy as Larry.

[DSJR]

What's underrated about a 3020A? It was a classic design the minute it was launched and although there's a slight "cuddliness" about the sonics, it really could put many more expensive amps severely to shame! Perfect with little speakers and those Diamond V's (are these the ones Alex bought for £8 recently or was it the IV?) should be ideal.

As with all thirty year old amps, check the caps for bulges and the state of the soldering around the sockets.


The ancestor to the 3020 series was the NAD Model 60 and this was a goodie as well - lovely big blue meters. This became the 3030 (which may have evolved into the 3140, I can't remember)

[StanleyB]

The 3020 was possibly the most popular integrated amp over several years during the mid to late 80's. It was well designed, but the 29/55/3055 output transistors were prone to failure, which I put down to the small heatsink used.
So don't play it at full blast for hours on end...

[DSJR]

The very early batches of 3020 weren't reliable at all, but after a few months there was a re-design of the layout and things significantly calmed down after that. Certainly, the HB1's and Mission 770's we often sold them with, didn't seem to stress them too hard, although Stan is correct about these venerable old output transistors. the sibling 7020 receiver was great too, but some tended to blow their mains transformer sadly..

I must admit that by the mid 80's, we were selling far more Creek 4040's and 4140's - locally made to us, and better for our needs by this time

[worthingpagan]

I had one of these a good few years ago, I thought it was well over-rated, sounded fairly ordinary to me. Recently owned a nad c315 which was very good in comparison

[dantheman91]

Hi

i bought 2 pairs of diamond v's for a £5 and the nad was a £5 now its amazing what a £10 worth of system can sound like

Dan