NAD d3020 - does anyone own? Advice needed before buying

[danbeatles78]

Thinking of getting one to hook up Asynchronous USB to my Flac file music on my pc

Speakers I already have are Q Acoustics 2010i and Q 7000 sub

What are people's impression of this amp?

 

[d_a_n1979]

Well my brother has one connected directly to his 2012 iMac 27" and with Q Acousitc 2020i's and it's a fantastic amp!

I'm seriously considering getting one myself to power some small speakers for my new office desk but cost is holding me back currently (because I'm being a bit tight fisted not because I'm skint haha )

I'm biased towards NAD as I've had their amps since I was about 14 (so 21 years now) and always loved their sound. Currently using a NAD C320BEE to power some AE100i's on my desk but it's a tank of an amp and I want to downsize but will also be considering powered speakers too (Ruark, Audioengine and EPOZ)

The D3020 has bags of power and my brothers 2020i's sound stunning. They're on his desk but it's a solid piece of furniture and he's used a 4cm thick piece of slate he's cut into two to dampen the speakers (blu-tac'd the slate to the desk and then blu-tac'd the speakers to the slate) and there's very little resonance at all until you turn it up too loud!

I'm assuming you'll be using speaker stands for your speakers?

 

[danbeatles78]

thanks for the quick response mate

yeah i'm using the Q acoustic stands with the 2010i's , and they are fantastic little speakers

i currently have a Yamaha RXV673 running the 2010i's and the 5.1 Q acoustics 7000 set and i'm thinking of downsizing

i do love the idea of surround but it doesn't look the best in the front room with speakers everywhere and i know the wife put's up with it but i can see it grates her haha

see this NAD D3020 and it looks perfect and wouldn't even stick out compared to the Yamaha AV amp

Music is my love and films comes a definite second, and i've heard good things musically re the NAD

does the NAD have decent power should i wish to upgrade my speakers? i'm thinking of purchasing the Q Acoustics Concept 20 speakers or the Dali Zensor 3 speakers - both of the bookshelf variety

 

[d_a_n1979]

Well put it this way; the hifi shop near to me had the D3020 running some MA GX100's (can be difficult to drive at times); some KEF R500's and B&W CM8's and they all sounded fantastic!

NAD are very conservative with their power output info; 30wpc sounds more like 50wpc with the D3020

The D3020 is as powerful as my C320BEE and that's 50wpc...

Unless you want disco loudness or want to drive known difficult speakers then the D3020 will be absolutely fine!

For what it is size wise and its cost; its a superb stereo amp and will provide bags of power and hours of fun listening to it

 

[danbeatles78]

thanks mate, i'm sold!!

need to get my other gear on ebay now and see what i can get for it all

 

[Ben123]

If it helps i will probably be selling off my 13kg tank-like pm7000 amp which has been with me for years and replacing it with a d3020. I see that seven oaks sell the d3020 but have no idea if they have them in store to listen to.

 

[danbeatles78]

absolutely mate, sounds like you are the same understanding as me regards to downsizing

i needed to post up to see if anyone has trialed the NAD D3020 as it seems to good to be true haha

it's tiny compared to what i have at the moment, and i can't wait to get one

 

[Cypher]

I would like to know if owners of the D3020 experienced the following problem.

quote from a review ;

"Occasionally, when sending digital signals from the NAD C 316BEE CD player to the D 3020's coaxial input, I heard a glitchy mechanical noise—sort of like the sound a CD transport makes when a disc skips"