Nad 3020 D and monitor audio BX2?

[Brutha]

Hi all,

i'm looking to put a new system into my living room; currently I just have a TV... And some nice headphones for music, streamed to my ipad.

Impressed with the monitor audio bx2 speakers my dad has, so I'll buy a pair of those. Now, I need an amplifier...

I like the look of the NAD 3020 D, since it has all the optical inputs which will work well with my TV, play station and an airport express for streaming music via airplay.

However, it seems to be right at the bottom of the power level for these speakers. Will this amp work ok, or should I consider other amps?

Gratefull for any thoughts!

Cheers,

 

[KWONAD]

I don't know best Brutha but you have NAD in mind and that is great. :cheers:

yeah i see that the D 3020 is not a dancehall buster but more a livingroom amp. Another option is the C390DD but it cost a bit big money. Also for me it's not an option and i would go for a D7040 for the power output.

My dream amp is the M2.

Sorry, i have no Monitor audio experiance.

wait till more replies follows. Succes finding your fresh system.

 

[stevebrock]

amp & speakers fine, the BX2 are quite sensitive so the NAD will have no problem

 

[KWONAD]

Perfect now Brutha can make the desision to buy the D3020.

And i am curious how satisfied he wil be with the monitor audio NAD combination.

 

[npoguy]

Hi all,

i'm looking to put a new system into my living room; currently I just have a TV... And some nice headphones for music, streamed to my ipad.

Impressed with the monitor audio bx2 speakers my dad has, so I'll buy a pair of those. Now, I need an amplifier...

I like the look of the NAD 3020 D, since it has all the optical inputs which will work well with my TV, play station and an airport express for streaming music via airplay.

However, it seems to be right at the bottom of the power level for these speakers. Will this amp work ok, or should I consider other amps?

Gratefull for any thoughts!

Cheers,

i just bought the 3020 as a temporary amp while I looked for something to replace my Parasound equipment. I'm pairing it with the LS50's and I'm really impressed. A friend came over for a listen and said I may have hit on a long term solution. The only issue is the volume control not being very sensitive, but it's not that big a deal. I recommend giving it a try!

 

[Brutha]

Just wanted to say a somewhat belated thanks for the replies - have been off travelling for a few weeks and never got round to replying earlier!

Anyway, went ahead with the order and am arriving home later today to a small pile of boxes - will let you know how it all sounds!

cheers,

 

[alecsus27]

Any news on how it sounds? I too have the BX2 and wonder if I should buy the NAD 3020 for them - but am somewhat suspicious about the low power rating of this specific NAD and the result of its pairing with the BX2. I'ts true the latter are rather sensitive (90 db) but still...

At the moment I use the BX2 with BXC and BXFX powered by Denon 2113 (so a 5.1 system) and I'm not satisfied with stereo music sound quality (I know, amps are more suited for stereo music listening, than AVs)

 

[manicm]

Any news on how it sounds? I too have the BX2 and wonder if I should buy the NAD 3020 for them - but am somewhat suspicious about the low power rating of this specific NAD and the result of its pairing with the BX2. I'ts true the latter are rather sensitive (90 db) but still...

At the moment I use the BX2 with BXC and BXFX powered by Denon 2113 (so a 5.1 system) and I'm not satisfied with stereo music sound quality (I know, amps are more suited for stereo music listening, than AVs)

I've had the BX2s and they're very efficient speakers - tonally they should be a good match for the 3020D, and will have no problem driving it.

 

[Brutha]

Hi,

Am very happy with the speaker / amp combo, they sound great to me, and it doesn't seem to me there is any lack of power (bear in mind that I'm no audiophile however!).

Next step is to track down a subwoofer to go with it for movies - any recommendations?

Thanks,

 

[stege]

I've just purchased my third NAD amplifier and my second pairs of Monitor Audio speakers.

Initially, just like you, I've laid my eyes on the BX2s and D3020 but boy I'm glad I went to an audition before making a wrong decision. You see, I've selected the BX2s and kept comparing 2 NAD amplifiers against each other. (326BEE and D3020)

Pfff. There is no comparison, 326BEE wins heands down, every single time, no matter what you throw at it. It dounded a lot warmer and had a way tighter bass response. So I almost gave up thinking I'm going to stream my music from the PC via aptX and focused on how on earth I'm going to send the music to the 326BEE through a decent DAC.

The answer was....change the speakers! The store owner had a pair of RX1s which were on sale (75$ more expensive than BX2) so I gave it a shot. Man oh man. It sounded way better than the 326bee+BX2 combination. I opened my wallet the next minute and now I'm enjoying these little gems.

However, and take this as a well - researchef for - tip, you will need an aptX bluetooth enabled transmitter. I'm not sure my gaming notebook has this, so I'll order this tiny thing asap.

The second tip: the power of this amp is enough for listening to music and watching movies at decent levels but if you really want to throw a party, just plug a powered subwoofer (BXW10 ? ) and let the entire power of the amplifier be directed to only mids and highs. This is my second upgrade, audio wise.

Hope this helps. Cheers.

 

[stege]

So I've upgraded my bluetooth transmission with aptX, using the Creative BT-D1 dongle. The differences are not night and day, although it is certainly an improvement.
There's a sense of clearing the congestion in the presentation when using the aptX, while the soundstage is more open and instruments are better revealed.

I've also tested, get impressed by and finally bought the NAD C546BEE cd-player. Impressions? It's 3 levels up from the aptX and a wonderful companion for the D3020 (but only when using its analog output, hence using its internal DAC which is a top end bit 8740 Wolfson; using its digital outputs forces the content to be converted using the DAC from the D3020 which is inferior unfortunately). Big brothers C326BEE and 356BEE have also been paired with the C546 and while the sound was much more authoritative when listening to hip-hop or metal, the D3020 offered an unique and unmatched finesse for jazz and blues.

(All tests have been done using the MA RX1 speakers and Supra relative cheap speaker cables.)

Now for the woofer part. I've tested the MA BXW10. While my first thought was using this sub would cut anything below 80Hz from the speakers (therefore helping the amp to pump the full 2x30W to only mids and highs which are easier to drive anyway) and send it to the woofer, the practical test revealed the following: nothing gets cut from the speakers, however everything below 80Hz gets replicated on the woofer too. Sure, the low extension could be welcomed by some but I have no need for it. Perhaps with a faster and more expensive woofer, things would be different, say the MA RXW12..

Hope this helps someone.