NAD 3020A Integrated Amp

I used to won two of these back when you could buy them new for under $200.00.

They were a refeshing change of pace from most of the over priced stuff in it's day.It was a no frills unit that delivered the goods, and I'll bet it would still compete today with some maintenance.

I'll take a good sounding no frills amp any day to one that is nothing but a collection of knobs and dials and options that degrade the sound.

This is one component from that era that never seems to appreciate in price like some of the other gear from that era, you know the stuuf with knobs and dials and switches and meters.

I used to run a pair of Swisstone 15 ohm Roger's Ls3/5a with one of my 3020's.
This made for some very nice listening.

The Rogers cost $400.00 new back then and the 3020 was $200.00 new.

Both I would consider classics,yet the 3020 somehow never gets any respect, yet it was the amp that was the real competition to all that 1970's Japanese stuff that was more show than go in my opinion.
Most of that gear that is so sought after today,granted was built better than the Nad,but sonically, the 3020 put the money into the parts that made it sound good.
So good in fact, that around the time of the 3020, those big heavey brutes from Japan started to disappear.

You have a nice piece of audio history in the 3020, and it is as deserving of upgrades as any other amp from that era or any other.

The thing I like about the 3020A is that I can bypass the power amp portion from the back and send the signal out to a stand along power amp. I'm wondering if anyone thinks I can get better sound by using the 3020A in this manner just as a preamp if I get a decent Power Amp?

I didn't try the preamp out when I had it (3020), but its worth trying, if it has it. Sometime they sound almost as good as a dedicated preamp. People do it with receivers to, and report good results at times. I've done it with others(brands/models) in the past, and received nice results. It depends how well it mates up to the particular amp you might try, just like a stand alone preamp. A lot of them put the feature on in case you want to go to a bigger amp in the future, but sure doesn't limit you to the quality either. I was satisfied with one setup in the bedroom for awhile, that I used the full integrated for TV, the pre-out for a tube amp for music. That worked fairly good, until I traded, and moved on. Part of the fun of the hobby.

If you still have those 4312a speakers, see if you could get a hold of a Mcintosh 2100 amplifier, at least to try the combo. That amp, and those speakers sound like they were made for each other.

I've owned both the 3020A and the 3225PE units and if your 3020A has the stock preamp/amp jumper links in place, get rid of those things and use a .5m or 1m pair of your favorite IC's. Heck, even the IC's that come stock with most budget/midline components are better than those notoriously bad sounding jumpers.

Give it a try, you have nothing to gain but much improved sound and it will most likely hold you over until you can buy that bigger amp :-)

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