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Does any 80's amp compare to the NAD 3020?

bb-3

bb-3

Member
OK, there's nothing from the 'silver' 70's that can compare to the NAD 3020....sound & price wise (see my other thread).
So my question today....is there anything from the 'black' 80's that compares to the low power NAD 3020 for the price?

I have heard that the Rotel 820 integrated amp was one....is there ANY others?
 
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The Adcom is a power amp and a nice one however this seems to be a question about integrated amps.

The 3020 was special...when it worked...why the question?
 
Art K. said:
The Adcom is a power amp and a nice one however this seems to be a question about integrated amps.

The 3020 was special...when it worked...why the question?
Click to expand...

I sold my NAD 7020, and I'm looking for something to replace it.
I am looking for something, that may even be cheaper (NOT more expensive) to buy used....if that's possible?
 
So I take it that nothing can touch the NAD 3020 in performance & price (used)!

The (unbeatable) budget system I'm thinking of putting together is a NAD 3020 w/ Paradigm Atom speakers, for a small room.
 
bb-3 said:
So I take it that nothing can touch the NAD 3020 in performance & price (used)!

The (unbeatable) budget system I'm thinking of putting together is a NAD 3020 w/ Paradigm Atom speakers, for a small room.
Click to expand...

I'd probably take it more like not too many people have 20wpc (or less) amps from the 80's, let alone others to compare against it.

"Unbeatable" is clearly a matter of subjective opinion.
 
If you included receivers, I'd like to throw in those of the Akai AAV-"X"01 series for consideration.

I had one for a brief period back then (until an unfortunate incident with a commodore 128 and it's sound output forced a return to CCity - don't ask:scratch2:). They had a really clear sweet sound to them and had a decent amount of headroom, and that touchpad volume control with the space-age display was a cool feature set.

I believe it went like this - the AAV-201 (40W), 301 (60W), and 401 (80W). I let a 401 slip out of my hands on da-bay a few days ago.. grrr.
 
Just looked over the 3020 specs. Pretty much and average integrated amp .Really nothing special. Have you tried say a Yamaha CA-400 or 410 (70's vintage).
 
Specs don't tell the whole story. There's SQ to consider. I'll gladly take a 3020 or 7020 over the other stuff in it's price range at the time.
 
Celt said:
Specs don't tell the whole story. There's SQ to consider. I'll gladly take a 3020 or 7020 over the other stuff in it's price range at the time.
Click to expand...

That's because it was designed to fit into the low power niche. It was not an after thought design like so many others excluding Linn of course.

Personally, I can think of several integrated amps that easily compare to the 3020.

Kenwood 8004
Yamaha CA-800
Later Pioneer A series integrated amps. I like the earlier silver stuff, but the cult following is the A400.

Personally, NAD has never really impressed me. Build quality is average, and I find it's easy to drive them into distortion with rock music. And that dang relay thing... what's up with that?
 
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Art K. said:
The Adcom is a power amp and a nice one however this seems to be a question about integrated amps.
Click to expand...

Yeah.

Don't forget the lowly NAD 310, which is an integrated. I had one for several years, and it sure sounded much bigger than 20 WPC.
 
Yes, I'm looking for something like the Pioneer A400....but with 1/2 the power, and cheaper then the NAD (used)? I could get away with 10w in my small living room.

I don't have anything against a receiver either....but LESS expensive than the NAD.

I loved my NAD 7020, better than anything I ever had. I have a Pioneer SA-5200 right now....it is not anywhere as good sounding as my old NAD, boomy bass, and not nearly as detailed, and the sound stage just isn't there like the NAD.
 
Look for an 80s Kyocera...they made some incerdible gear during the 80s, but then started to focus on the Asian/European market as sales here were waning.
 
Aiwa did a nice mini system of which the amp and preamp were quite good and around the 10W range. Also look out for the Toshiba Aurex amps. Then there are a couple of Rotel amps that would be suitable.
 
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