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Review NaN of
Price Paid:
$200.00 Summary:
In 1979, while on a visit to NYC, I stopped in a high-end audio shop to hear what the big city had to offer. An accomodating salesman played me some jazz recorded live in some Swedish club, he said. The speakers were Quad electrostatics, and the sound was (and is to this day) some of the best and most lifelike that I have ever heard. I could close my eyes and listen to people eating
and talking all around me. (The jazz was nice, too :)
When the salesman showed me that these famous $3000 speakers were being driven by a 20 watt, $200 integrated amp, I was absolutely astounded. Later, I read several magazine reviews and they were unanamous - this little NAD was a giant-killer, putting many multi-thousand-dollar separates to shame.
So, when my wonderful little JSH pre-amp finally bit the dust a couple of years later, I bought an NAD 3020 new, and I have had it ever since.
Funny thing is, I had done most of my critical , comparative listening before that purchase, not enough to claim to have "golden ears", but enough to personally experience the real differences in sound clarity, not just in speakers, but in electronics too. Consequently, I can't really say whether the NAD 3020 is better or worse than this or that newer piece. I am sure of one thing though - there are lots of poor-to-mediocre-sounding electronics out there, and after 27 years, the NAD 3020 is still a baseline reference standard, and I will never part with mine.
For people who have receivers, this is an excellent piece for conducting an inexpensive experiment to learn something about yourself and your system. Replace your receiver with the NAD 3020 and listen to some familiar albums or CDs, carefully. If you do not hear detail that is new to you, then either:
A) You have a damn fine receiver already!
- or -
B) Your source and/or speakers are really, really, really awful.
- or -
C) You have "tin ears" and needn't bother with the whole audiophile business...
Cheers :) Strengths:
Open, detailed, transparent sound.
Excellent phono section (the hardest thing to do well), plus pre-out/amp-in jacks make it a good way to try "vinyl" and hear what all the fuss is about.
More power than the conservative 20 watt rating.
Handles 4-ohm or complex speaker loads, no problem. Weaknesses:
Will not compensate for poor recordings, harsh CDs, or limitations of other components. This is not really a weakness in my opinion, but some people seem to need mellow, "warm" amplification to make harsh CDs listenable. Similar Products Used:
Old Pioneer and Kenwood receivers and integrated amps.
JSH, Apt-Holman, Outlaw, Rotel, and Hafler pre-amps.
Dynaco, Marantz, Rotel, and Hafler power amps.
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