hai,

i just want help about this vintage amp's by nad. does anyone know about it?

tq

Its dated from late 70's to early 80's 20Watt fully transistorized integrated amplifier. Since its quite old now, some of the electroytic capacitors may have dried out and need replacement to give it another lease of life. It's likely warmer sounding than current generation of amplifiers of similar power output.
I've peeked inside older NAD integrated amplifiers before which leads me to believe they're in a class of their own competing with the likes of their Japanese counterparts. Your amplifier uses more European made audio transistors (BC, BD, 2N designation and NO opamps) which sound different from Japanese amps. New models now use fully Japanese transistors, although much lower noise floor, cleaner and higher resolution, but can be musically uninvolving, which is why there's always people who do enjoy vintage equipment..me included.

This post has been edited by bsl555: May 16 2007, 11:06 AM

A classic, by all accounts. A nice homage paid by TNT Audio here, almost 10 years ago.

wow.. that makes them 30 yrs old - as bsl555 says some maintenance may be in order

huh...

tq SiriuslyCold and bsl555. It's look like this 3020i is a good amps.

Reminds me, back in 1995 I bought a NAD 302. I describe it as smooth, warm, and extremely detailed sound amp. Its a budget amp and certainly perform well above the price.

Someone told me that NAD 302 sounds quite similar to NAD 3020i but I cannot confirm this as I never really heard the sound of 3020i.

That's why it does prove a point that some dated stuff can sound very musical and involving, words I would attempt to describe it. To put it simply, some of the magic is lacking in the latest hardware where the hghest specifications don't neccessrily equate being better or best.

i agrreeee with u! yesterday i just test an NAD3020i amps with Rogers LS6a/2 speaker (also a classic item) .. HUH!! the sound cannot describe here..

I'm not entirely sure about this model, but looking at the service manual, I can see there's some allowance adjustment and calibration proceedure to give it a little more oomph. Its in the output transistor bias adjustment. Manufacturers usually set this very conservatively to ensure maximum reliability and longivity. As with tweakers..anything goes!. Like fine tuning a standard car for extra oomph..but not without unexpected consequences.

hai everyone..

Finally i meet someone who wanna sell this NAD3020i... in good condition.
but somehow i dont know how much i could offer him.

anyone know the reasonable price for it...

tq

around RM300 would be a fair price. up to RM450 if it has been recapped. good alternative is Cyrus 1 or 2 for not much more money. also, noticed a guy selling exposure super XX for 1k in star audiomart. all these are good amps.

NAD 3020i was my first amp but it wasn't powerful enough to drive my Energy speakers and it was a little on the neutral side. You don't have to worry about the capacitors, my friend is still using it now, so far so good. As for myself, I have traded in for an Arcam amp because I wanted something a tad warmer and powerful enough to drive my speakers. If you listen to classical music, NAD 3020i is your best bet.

Where can get the Cyrus 2 amp? and what is the price?

As for Cyrus 2 you should get the version 3, i find it sounds good. I own one and it is a keeper.

hmmm.. i also dont know about this amp... any review?

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Added on July 4, 2007, 3:04 ammy NAD laying on yamaha av amps..

This post has been edited by sham73: Jul 4 2007, 03:04 AM

Is a NAD 302 worth buying? How much would you pay for one in running condition?

Aiks can't believe you 'korek' back an old old thread back in 2007 hehe.. then only i realise there's a thread for NAD3020i (bcos i'm using also )

A working condition, i guess it'll fetch around RM400 - RM500, but it's kinda hard to find one around..

Yeah someone wanted to sell me one for RM500. I was thinking it's a bit too pricey though.

rm500 is a bit high. Rm300-rm400 more reasonable price

I paid for a new NAD 302 for RM 550 in 1995.

i've paid it at rm400 last year

You can't go wrong with NAD.
My first amp was the 3020. Best amp I ever had.. lasted me a few good years before I upgraded.
For a small sum of money, it gave the biggest 'bang per buck'..
For a 'smaller' sum, we have DIY..

Yup currently using 3020i to drive a pair of SF concertino domus, still sounds not bad to my ears hehe..

nicholas,
I guess you listen in your bedroom more than in the living room? hence the NAD in the bedroom?

wao, same setup with PcWork
sure you poison by him

This post has been edited by yehlai: Dec 2 2008, 09:02 PM

Ah ha, you are right hehe.. I spent 99% of my time in bedroom hehe.. Even i put 32" LCD tv in bedroom also, so you can imagine the amount of time i spent in my room

Ahaha yeah man even the stereo amp is same.. All thanks to his poison lol..

NAD 3020i is my very first amp (first hand owner). It is not the cheapo later version from China. Quality is completely different. Until now, it still sound strong since day 1, never give a single problem until now. The only problem is I am tired looking at the same thing for two decades. Well... I always wait it to give troubles so I can have reason to get new one... But it never happen... That's what I call quality. I doubt I can buy anything like that for now. It last forever...

The amp is rated at 20 watt per channels and hardly get warm even turn on over night. Maybe due to its extremely low power consumption. And maybe because of its low temperature, it last forever.

For now, many will say I am crazy of using it to power my floorstander KEF Q700 -> http://www.kef.com/html/en/showroom/hi-fi_...Q700/index.html It actually give reasonable good performance on music that focus on vocal. The sound is so clear, a bit on the warm side, but very pleasing if you have the right DAC or CD player. You have to listen to believe.

So far the weakness is its relative small power for my Q700, which I also use for movies (lots of low freq response) most of the time... The sound still okay, but not as siok (bass not as tight and well control) as much more powerful amp like Marantz PM8005.

It is why I am thinking to replace my NAD with PM8005 + Arcam irDAC. Still thinking as the upgrade is not cheap... Also planning to let go my trustly Tannoy E11 as well as relatively new Diamond 10.2. I want to go all floorstand now.

This post has been edited by chanhin: Apr 15 2014, 11:09 PM