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nad 3020 vs advent 300

hi folks, i'm a newbie w/ a cool uncle with some vintage gear. he'll ship me an old 3020 or an advent 300 if i do some research. i have a ar es 101 turntable and want to know if anyone could compare the phono stage of these two. the ar has a sumiko arm and ortofon cartridge. they will be drving some pretty efficient klipsch forte's. is one of these old timers dramatically better than the other?
tda44
tda44 OP
43 posts
 
dear armstrod,
thanks for the info. what do you think about using the advent as pre amp and begging my uncle for the nad 3020 as the power amp? (i am his favorite nephew)the cartridge on my inherited turntable is an ortofon x-1 mc. not sure about its output.
celtic66
990 posts
 
The 3020 is the clear choice and yes I know both well. Clean up the pots AND bridge the pre-out/amp-in with decent connectors to upgrade the sound tremendously. If you really get ambitious you can bypass the treble/bass pots to open it up. It will run away from the Advent (which is also a nice piece).
armstrod
498 posts
 
Tda44,

The Ortofon is 2.2mv, which should work fine with either the Advent or the NAD. For the small bump in power I'm not sure it would be worth using the power amp section of the 3020, but if you had both in house you could do your own comparison between all aspects of both units and make your judgment with your own ears. That's always the best way.
tda44 OP
43 posts
 
celtic 66,
thanks for the advice. this question will show what a rookie i am at this whole biz, but here goes: how do you clean up the pots? is it just opening up the unit and blasting the inside portion of the knobs with condensed air? or do you use some other spray product? i know this is audio repair 101 but it's all new to me. i do appreciate the help.
tda44 OP
43 posts
 
armstrod,
i hope i can get both units here for a little "battle of the old timers" action! thanks for taking the time to help me out!
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