Bought NAD D3020 A Vintage addict sin?

It all started one year ago...
Nile Rodgers performance at iTunes Festival, triggered my repressed "enjoy listening to music".
So after abandoning vinyl in the nineties, replacing everything with AV receivers and blue-rays, plunging in the digital and streaming music, i always felt something was missing...
I was tired of listening to background music, while driving or working, so I decided to return to Vinyl.
After a quick look at modern turntables I decided to look for Technics DD turntables from the 80's.
That was just the beginning... Now I'm a Vintage Hifi addict!
Marantz, Dual, Tandberg, Philips, Yamaha, just to name a few brands I started collecting.

One year ago I also got interested in that odd looking piece of digital from NAD...but I was in "Vintage Mode", so I passed.

This Friday, my favorite local store was selling the D3020, a USB DAC 1 and a limited edition of Wharfedale Denton speakers, for 798€ plus a 20% value coupon.
For me it was a sign, the odd amp and the Vintage looking speakers!

I bought them! All this time both NAD D3020 and Wharfedale speakers, caught my attention but I was busy looking for Vintage somewhere else.

First impressions? The NAD D3020 sounds very good! Very warm, almost like the old analogue sound we love!

Carlos




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I think it is a great piece of equipment, and a tremendous value. Great purchase on your part. Never anything wrong with keeping an open mind.

Nice. Although I'm not a big class D guy, I would consider that NAD unit. It seems to have a lot going for it for the right applications. Is it possible the "warm" "analogue" sound you describe is due to the Dentons?

Either way, keep us posted as you play with your new toys!:thmbsp:

:worthless- pix please

I'd like to see the innards of the contraption.
To deduce which Chip amp NAD fitted.
Some are exemplary performers..some not so much.

Thought you didn't care for ANY chip amps bare

It's not a sin unless you think using old gear is a religion and you've transgressed it's doctrine. If you feel guilt and shame go to Confession or at least make a good Act of Contrition.

The bias (no pun intended) against 'chip' amps around here is utterly ridiculous.

It used to be that the masses attacked the STK (thick film hybrid) amplifier modules because they'd heard they 'weren't as good as discrete', but they'd happily listen to their receivers that were full of ICs and their phono stages with their cheaply implemented but quite excellent performing IC front ends.

The'd also extol the virtues of amplifiers that used LAPts or diffused emitter arrays, or darlington transistors that are essentially a few to many transistors and resistors on a die (ie- an IC or a chip) or an amp with a discrete output stage driven by an STKxxxx voltage stage. Hypocrisy at its finest.

There was never anything fundamentally wrong with 'chip' amps and they solved a lot of problems hardly acknowledged by the rabid detractors.

As for PWM and 'class T' 'chip' based amps, they range from average to really excellent, just like all the vintage hifi around here.

The NAD referred to is a fantastic product and sounds superb. Would I buy one? No, I have no desire to, but I've put one on my bench and it would beat the pants off a vintage product of similar power rating.

davidro said:

Thought you didn't care for ANY chip amps bare

Click to expand...

you're not thinking i'm one such biased person, are you John?

a tpa3116-based amp is driving my Celestion speakers as I type now!

No mate, I've got one hooked up to my DVD player for movies running some Mordaunt Short MS40s- sounds way better than it deserves to.

I've also replaced my trusty amp on the service bench with a SMSL SA45 as it is so tiny (bench space is at a premium)

I really have to give this chip amp thing a serious try. Hate to be left out of some really cool sounding equipment.

Bigerik said:

I really have to give this chip amp thing a serious try. Hate to be left out of some really cool sounding equipment.

Click to expand...

The first chip amp I heard was a DIY 200 WPC TriPath one of the guys in our Chicago horn club built. He brought it to the first Lima fest and we used it to power my Altec 605s and many were impressed.

About 10 years ago TEAC made a 3 channel chip power amp of around 35-40 WPC that sounded very good. I used one to drive Altec compression drivers in a bi-amped system. When I downsized I gave it to a pal who's using it in an otherwise quite esoteric high end system where it replaced a boutique tube amp.

Also, about 10 years ago Panasonic made some excellent sounding HT receivers using chip amps. They were also light, compact and unusually styled. For some fool reason they stopped making the things.

Congrats! I love chips amps done right. My listening room amp is a teac icepowered unit. I've heard the NAD is a hypex unit which is supposed to be even better.:yes:

Vintagear said:

Nice. Although I'm not a big class D guy, I would consider that NAD unit. It seems to have a lot going for it for the right applications. Is it possible the "warm" "analogue" sound you describe is due to the Dentons?

Either way, keep us posted as you play with your new toys!:thmbsp:

Click to expand...

in my office room I have a Tandberg CR2030 with a pair of bookshelf speakers from XTZ. I unplugged it and plugged the NAD, for comparison.

The Dentons are in a different setup in my living room, but I have to say I'm least impressed with the Wharfedales, at least at low volumes. If I crank the volume they do deliver, but at low volumes the bass is a little shallow.

Keep in mind that I'm no audiophile, but comparing the NAD with a Cambridge Audio AM10 I bought last year, the sound is much close to my warm tastes.
With the AM10 i had to push bass and treble using a remote (no buttons on fascia) and fiddling with sub menus! Argh!
Luckily i didn't had to change bass or treble, because there's only volume and source to work with (not even on NAD's remote)

Using the NAD D2030, it was plug and play and instantaneous pleasure.

Regarding Class D amps, although i like the sound of the D3020, I strongly suggest an audition first.
Also operation is a little annoying, soft touch buttons and a volume button that never stops. If you want to crank the volume you have to turn the knob, and it's not analogue or proportional.


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restorer-john said:

The bias (no pun intended) against 'chip' amps around here is utterly ridiculous.

It used to be that the masses attacked the STK (thick film hybrid) amplifier modules because they'd heard they 'weren't as good as discrete', but they'd happily listen to their receivers that were full of ICs and their phono stages with their cheaply implemented but quite excellent performing IC front ends.

The'd also extol the virtues of amplifiers that used LAPts or diffused emitter arrays, or darlington transistors that are essentially a few to many transistors and resistors on a die (ie- an IC or a chip) or an amp with a discrete output stage driven by an STKxxxx voltage stage. Hypocrisy at its finest.

There was never anything fundamentally wrong with 'chip' amps and they solved a lot of problems hardly acknowledged by the rabid detractors.

As for PWM and 'class T' 'chip' based amps, they range from average to really excellent, just like all the vintage hifi around here.

The NAD referred to is a fantastic product and sounds superb. Would I buy one? No, I have no desire to, but I've put one on my bench and it would beat the pants off a vintage product of similar power rating.

Click to expand...

Yes, this very same STK voltage is called "crap" when it is in a Sansui plastic age B1000, it is a little bit better in a Marantz PM80, if it is in an Accuphase (it is) people would be not amused if you called the amp "crap" because there is this STK inside.

I'm a vintage gear collector as well, which didn't stop me from getting a Yamaha Cavit amp/DAC for my computer system some time ago. It's perfect for what I use it for, which is pretty much a USB DAC and headphone amp (but I had to tap to speaker jacks with another headphone out via resistors, the one that Yamaha has uses a chip and is no good with more demanding headphones).

Erratic behavior of buttons and volume control (I think there was a review that also mentioned it) can be a problem. My old NAD L70 had this, and it only got worse over time. Now I can only use the wretched thing with remote, buttons never do what I want them to (setup button switches the unit off, play button opens the disc drawer and so on) and volume control encoder turns up the volume when I try to turn it down. D3020 comes with a remote control, my advice is: don't loose it

If it sounds good go with it although I think the vintage sound is more from the speakers then your amp.

Actual setup:

NAD D2030
NAD USB DAC 1
XTZ Satellite 80
Asus AIOPC







It would be nice if I could put the display horizontally.
The unit works best in vertical position, but I was afraid the speakers cable could cause strain and make the unit fall from the rack.
NAD could supply a base, as optional. Instead they supplied a bunch of tiny rubber feet to glue to the bottom.
I hate this kind of feet, because after a while they go off leaving glue all over the place!
No such thing on Vintage material

Carlos

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I once briefly had a mint Marantz unit that had these STK's inside. It came as part of a package deal for a turntable I wanted. IMO, it sounded terrible and was quickly sold.

I realize that was probably attributable to more than just these STK's, but the mention of them in this thread reminded me of the sub-par sound of that unit. It was even rated @ 4 ohms but was a wimp. :sigh:

Many units use STK 0050. Pioneer SX-780 for example. Metz Mecasound AX 4960 I used to have also had them. It sounded very good, better than many amps with discrete transistors in the main amp sections and the same power ratings. Another amp I had that used STK 0050 was Sanyo DCA 411. Now that was a really bad sounding amp. So yep, it's more than just these STKs that make an amp sound good or bad.