dryce
Active Member
I recently sent my NAD 3020 off to Leesonic for a complete restoration. I had been having some minor issues with it. There were times while playing where it would get brief moments of static. I had tried cleaning the controls a few times and the static still persisted. It still had all original internal components, so I figured that was a great excuse to send it out for a fix up. I've read Lee's threads here about his work with these and knew he was just the guy to tackle the project. He has done very fine work on these and I'm certain he could build these things in his sleep by now.
I actually purchased this 3020 off the bay after hearing an unrestored unit with a set of Mission 731 Pro bookshelf speakers and a Marantz 67SE. I thought it had a great warmth and detail to it. I really wasn't expecting the restoration to improve on the qualities that I already enjoyed about the NAD, but I feel quite confident that it has. When I talked to Lee about taking on my unit he had a very organized plan about how to tackle the project. He was very honest about what he felt was needed and what would probably be overkill for the project. I sent it out to him shortly after that conversation and he began working on the 3020.
The project took considerably less time to complete than I imagined. I received an email outlining what he had done with photographs detailing all the work in no time at all. Lee sent a very detailed description of what I was looking at also which was definitely most appreciated. Here is his outline of the project:
Pics 1-5 show how it looked inside when I first opened it.
Pic 6 shows it with 99% of the new caps installed, and the heatsink removed.
Pic 7 shows the heatsink and output transistors with very little thermal grease left.
Pic 8 shows the internal view with all the new caps installed, and the heatsink refitted. See that white stuff around the four output transistors in the center? That's new heat transfer grease.
Pic 9 shows the underside of the board, see how clean it is after defluxing? The four black caps are the Nichicon KLs I moved from the other side of the board to create space for the WIMA films. The two brown-red caps are bypassing the main power supply caps.
Pics 10-13 show me seting the bias and offset voltage. 30mV for the bias, and 0.5mV for the offset seem pretty good. Of course, these values go up and down with heat, but I left it sitting for about 20 minutes and adjusted them every 5 mins.
Pic 14 shows the power supply board. New diodes (circled in yellow), new resistors (green), and new power transistors with heatsinks (red). All the caps are Nichicon PWs (105C temperature rating).
Pic 15 shows the WIMA films (circled in green) in the phono preamp and the beginning of the line driver stage.
Pic 16 shows the WIMA and CD films in the tone control and line driver stage (circled in green), higher value main caps and new rectifier for the power amp stage (red), and new power switch and spark surpressor (blue).
Pic 17 shows new Bournes trimmers (green) and CD caps for the power amp input (blue).
Pic 18 shows the addtional heatsink fitted to the original.
Photos are here:
http://s160.photobucket.com/user/Silverbullet763/slideshow/Nad 3020
As you can see, he did an excellent job. Hopefully, he will chime in here at some point. I had him replace the stock leds with new blue and it really looks great that way. Listening to the restored unit surprised me a great deal. The bass response was greatly improved and sounds that would have been stuck in the background before, are extremely clear and crisp. I was listening to one track in particular that had a very bassy sound to it.
I noticed the woofers on my Klipsch RB-5s moving slightly. I honestly haven't noticed that with any other amp that has been in rotation. Everything from guitar and violin strings to drums and piano sound incredible. My musical tastes run the gamut. I've played Eric Clapton Unplugged, Alison Krauss Live With Union Station, R & B stuff, Rock. The strings really shine and you never feel as though something is off or overblown.
The biggest surprise for me had to be the phono stage in the NAD. I listened to it prior to the restore and it left me feeling a little unsure. The sparkle that the rest of the amp had seemed missing. Thankfully, it sounds great post-restoration. Lots of detail there.
Lee was even kind enough to send CDs back with the amp to test out. All in all I've had a great experience with Lee's restoration work and the amp. The 3020 is now my daily driver and I don't see it ever going anywhere. Just thought I'd share with fellow Akers. It's definitely worth hearing a restored 3020. They really are something special.
I actually purchased this 3020 off the bay after hearing an unrestored unit with a set of Mission 731 Pro bookshelf speakers and a Marantz 67SE. I thought it had a great warmth and detail to it. I really wasn't expecting the restoration to improve on the qualities that I already enjoyed about the NAD, but I feel quite confident that it has. When I talked to Lee about taking on my unit he had a very organized plan about how to tackle the project. He was very honest about what he felt was needed and what would probably be overkill for the project. I sent it out to him shortly after that conversation and he began working on the 3020.
The project took considerably less time to complete than I imagined. I received an email outlining what he had done with photographs detailing all the work in no time at all. Lee sent a very detailed description of what I was looking at also which was definitely most appreciated. Here is his outline of the project:
Pics 1-5 show how it looked inside when I first opened it.
Pic 6 shows it with 99% of the new caps installed, and the heatsink removed.
Pic 7 shows the heatsink and output transistors with very little thermal grease left.
Pic 8 shows the internal view with all the new caps installed, and the heatsink refitted. See that white stuff around the four output transistors in the center? That's new heat transfer grease.
Pic 9 shows the underside of the board, see how clean it is after defluxing? The four black caps are the Nichicon KLs I moved from the other side of the board to create space for the WIMA films. The two brown-red caps are bypassing the main power supply caps.
Pics 10-13 show me seting the bias and offset voltage. 30mV for the bias, and 0.5mV for the offset seem pretty good. Of course, these values go up and down with heat, but I left it sitting for about 20 minutes and adjusted them every 5 mins.
Pic 14 shows the power supply board. New diodes (circled in yellow), new resistors (green), and new power transistors with heatsinks (red). All the caps are Nichicon PWs (105C temperature rating).
Pic 15 shows the WIMA films (circled in green) in the phono preamp and the beginning of the line driver stage.
Pic 16 shows the WIMA and CD films in the tone control and line driver stage (circled in green), higher value main caps and new rectifier for the power amp stage (red), and new power switch and spark surpressor (blue).
Pic 17 shows new Bournes trimmers (green) and CD caps for the power amp input (blue).
Pic 18 shows the addtional heatsink fitted to the original.
Photos are here:
http://s160.photobucket.com/user/Silverbullet763/slideshow/Nad 3020
As you can see, he did an excellent job. Hopefully, he will chime in here at some point. I had him replace the stock leds with new blue and it really looks great that way. Listening to the restored unit surprised me a great deal. The bass response was greatly improved and sounds that would have been stuck in the background before, are extremely clear and crisp. I was listening to one track in particular that had a very bassy sound to it.
I noticed the woofers on my Klipsch RB-5s moving slightly. I honestly haven't noticed that with any other amp that has been in rotation. Everything from guitar and violin strings to drums and piano sound incredible. My musical tastes run the gamut. I've played Eric Clapton Unplugged, Alison Krauss Live With Union Station, R & B stuff, Rock. The strings really shine and you never feel as though something is off or overblown.
The biggest surprise for me had to be the phono stage in the NAD. I listened to it prior to the restore and it left me feeling a little unsure. The sparkle that the rest of the amp had seemed missing. Thankfully, it sounds great post-restoration. Lots of detail there.
Lee was even kind enough to send CDs back with the amp to test out. All in all I've had a great experience with Lee's restoration work and the amp. The 3020 is now my daily driver and I don't see it ever going anywhere. Just thought I'd share with fellow Akers. It's definitely worth hearing a restored 3020. They really are something special.
You should send a message to Leesonic by clicking on his avatar then clicking on "Start a conversation".