TONEAudio Magazine
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<p><strong><a rel="attachment wp-att-13174" href="http://www.tonepublications.com/old-school/nad-3020-integrated-amplifier/attachment/1-125/"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-13174" title="1" src="http://www.tonepublications.com/media/1148.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="389" /></a>I recently bought an original NAD 3020 integrated stereo amplifier for $66 on eBay. As soon as I hooked it up to my Dynaudio Contour 1.1 speakers, I remembered why the little amp took the audio world by storm in the late 1970s.</strong></p>
<p>My first encounter with NAD came when I worked as a high-end audio salesman at New York’s Sound By Singer. We started selling NAD receivers in 1978, a year before the 3020 was introduced. Japanese-designed and -manufactured brands of the time were gorgeous, and NAD’s gray plastic faceplates weren’t winning any beauty contests. That didn’t bother my customers one bit; they loved NAD’s simplicity and glitz-free appearance. In fact, young, hip audiophiles perceived NAD as the higher-quality alternative. But the sound is what really differentiated NAD from the majors. With NAD, you could feel like the engineers were running the show.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-13175" href="http://www.tonepublications.com/old-school/nad-3020-integrated-amplifier/attachment/2-118/"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-13175" title="2" src="http://www.tonepublications.com/media/2135.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="407" /></a>What paired with the 3020, Snell Acoustics’ model J and K speakers, and to a lesser extent Boston Acoustic A40s, were popular with NAD customers, and there was a sprinkling of Rogers LS3/5A fan boys scooping up 3020s. And since the little amp was launched a couple of years before the compact disc arrived, the Rega Planar 2 served as the go-to turntable.</p>
<p>The 3020 may have been rated at a mere 20 watts per channel, but it had 3 dB of headroom. Hence, it could deliver 40 watts into 8 ohm loads, 58 watts in 4 ohms, and 72 watts into 2 ohms for brief periods of time. I doubt you can find a receiver today that safely drives 2-ohm loads.</p>
<p>Peter Tribeman, NAD’s US president at the time of the 3020
[Source: http://www.tonepublications.com/old-school/nad-3020-integrated-amplifier/]
<p>My first encounter with NAD came when I worked as a high-end audio salesman at New York’s Sound By Singer. We started selling NAD receivers in 1978, a year before the 3020 was introduced. Japanese-designed and -manufactured brands of the time were gorgeous, and NAD’s gray plastic faceplates weren’t winning any beauty contests. That didn’t bother my customers one bit; they loved NAD’s simplicity and glitz-free appearance. In fact, young, hip audiophiles perceived NAD as the higher-quality alternative. But the sound is what really differentiated NAD from the majors. With NAD, you could feel like the engineers were running the show.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-13175" href="http://www.tonepublications.com/old-school/nad-3020-integrated-amplifier/attachment/2-118/"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-13175" title="2" src="http://www.tonepublications.com/media/2135.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="407" /></a>What paired with the 3020, Snell Acoustics’ model J and K speakers, and to a lesser extent Boston Acoustic A40s, were popular with NAD customers, and there was a sprinkling of Rogers LS3/5A fan boys scooping up 3020s. And since the little amp was launched a couple of years before the compact disc arrived, the Rega Planar 2 served as the go-to turntable.</p>
<p>The 3020 may have been rated at a mere 20 watts per channel, but it had 3 dB of headroom. Hence, it could deliver 40 watts into 8 ohm loads, 58 watts in 4 ohms, and 72 watts into 2 ohms for brief periods of time. I doubt you can find a receiver today that safely drives 2-ohm loads.</p>
<p>Peter Tribeman, NAD’s US president at the time of the 3020
[Source: http://www.tonepublications.com/old-school/nad-3020-integrated-amplifier/]