Any experience with 3020b NAD

boston1450

Any experience with this little int amp ? A quick research said back in the day they were very well known. I havent even heard it-or the PSB 50r speakers. Im going to clean up the inside of the amp & probably do the pots & clean up the speakers tomorrow before taking a listen

11tsteve

I have the 1020 preamp, which is the pre section of that amp. Actually, same board and chassis, just not populated by the amp's innards. I love this pre.... open, detailed, slightly warmer than neutral. Mine has been rebuilt by a guy at AK who does many 1020/3020 rebuilds, and is dead quiet.
The 3020's rep was that it performs way beyond it's modest specs, being very dynamic and powerful sounding.

boston1450

I read alittle up on them & seems they were NAD's little int amp that was back when the began ??? I figured some here would of had them back in the hay day. Little in size & power might be bliss on some efficient bookshelf speakers

11tsteve

was it a local pickup?

mantis

It's a great amp. I'ave ran them many times.

boston1450

Yes somewhat. About 20miles. Next road over from where i got the Lsi7's recently. I owned a NAD when i joined here & i see some here id love to get my ears on. So when i saw this locally w/speakers tuner & cd player for 50 bucks i figured it was worth that just to listen to it & if i didnt like it-sell it off. I was hoping the PSB speakers were the smaller ones. (Picture looked small). The 50r's are a fair size & wont work in space. I have heard the smaller ones & enjoyed listening to them on vinyl. Gonna hook it up real soon & will report back

boston1450

Well. Got it all cleaned up. Reconditioned cover. Hooked it to a pair of Monitor 7's & very nice. The bass & treble knobs work perfect. Nice bass on the 7's. Very nice control. Balance is spot on. At 9:30 on V dial is perfect on Pink Floyd Meddle. The only thing i did notice is there is a slight humm on phono when i hit the phono switch. Not a biggie as i wont use it on turntable anyways. The PSB foams are shot. I went to play around with them & they just fell apart. The cabinets are mint. So i sent Looney Tunes a message & we will see if i can save them from the dump. Well very impressed with the little NAD int amp

boston1450

boston1450

Just bought some small KEF c15's to listen on this little guy. They are small bookies & should sound decent on this int amp. Should have by Friday. Will report back later. Have a great week

cnh

Nice pick up, Randy! The original 3020 is what started it all, your unit is probably a slight update, but not much changed.

I remember a friend having one of these in Grad School hooked up to some fairly large, maybe Canadian, speaker-Cambers? We couldn't believe this little amp could make those speakers "sing"! This guy also had a collection of vinyl that was warehouse size! A very nice system back then.

I've always like the NAD sound. Have a NAD power amp and a C325EE in the fold. Nice warm musical sound, not the greatest detail resolution but as far from fatiguing as you can get!

Enjoy!

boston1450

Cnh. I hooked them to the 7's with sl2000 & listened to it for 2+ hours & loved it. I got rid of some of the other gear to Joe. Youll see them on C-list soon. He will probably dump some Daytons in the PSB's & sell em off. I got enough projects going on. Last night i bought some small KEF's so im hoping they match well & their small-so if not in use i can closet them

cnh

NAD and LSi bookies are a good match. I used to run my 7s on a C325bee integrated, gave them all the juice they needed. Sounds like you're having fun.

Yeah! Joe's shed is packed full of all kinds of things. Some easier to move than others.

[Deleted User]

I have found NAD to be clear sounding and a step up from the older
vintage gear I was playing with. You boston?
Any you NAD fans hear the NAD C 275BEE? (sorry, still looking for
a amp)

boston1450

Well i hooked up the ( very small ) KEF c15's. Yes small. Smaller than Monitor 4's. I about sh-t when i got the box LOL. Hooked them to the NAD int amp-Sony cd player-AQ shorties cables & was rather surprised. They do quite well. Punchy bass. Tweets seem crisp. Male vocals (Eagles) very nice. They seem to do well with the little amp & the good here is i can hide it when not in use & pull it out on a rainy day

boston1450

Even ACDC sounds good on these little guys. They ROCK for their size

Stew

rednedtugent wrote: »

Any you NAD fans hear the NAD C 275BEE? (sorry, still looking for
a amp)

Powering 2b-TL's with a Dared pre and C275bee for the last couple of years. Love it!

[Deleted User]

Thanks Stew! Now back to the 3020b. I used to love this NAD
sound....

Stew wrote: »

rednedtugent wrote: »

Any you NAD fans hear the NAD C 275BEE? (sorry, still looking for
a amp)

Powering 2b-TL's with a Dared pre and C275bee for the last couple of years. Love it!

boston1450

^^^^^ ive only used it on the 2 pair listed above. Ive read where people have upgraded parts in the amp with great results. Im sure if matched with a different speaker it is a killer of a amp

doctor r

A little late post, but I originally bought a NAD 3020 and a pair of Monitor 7Bs in 1979 new from Eardrum Audio in Cambridge MA. I used that system for 20 plus years. The phono section is nice if you wanted to use it (after addressing the hum). It was rated at 20 watts per channel but designed for, if I remember correctly, peaks up to 50+ without issues. The 20 watt rating was chosen not based on possible output but by what power output level had the lowest THD. It included their "soft clipping" circuit to avoid the harshness associated with "some of us" overusing the volume control. Soft clipping was chosen to be in the circuit or bypassed by how you placed the jumper from the preamp section to the power amp section on the back. I also successfully used the preamp section to a larger power amp with excellent results. Great little amp. At this point capacitor replacement might be needed for it to really perform at it's best.

boston1450

Interesting info. Thanks. Yes. It needs tune up. Slight popping when powering on/off. I hooked a Pioneer pl530 on it & it sounded pretty good. So far ive tried KEF & M&K & Polk7's on it. Sweet litttle int amp & it takes mins to take it apart & throw it in closet shelf