I was there 😉
customer : I'd like like to listen to a NAD 3020
salesman : Why ? they are not very good (we haven't got any in stock)
customer : Why ? What's wrong with them ?
salesmen : They are unreliable, we've had more returns of them than any other amplifier.
(When we've got them in stock they are the only budget amplifier we can shift, nothing
else gets a look in, but then I don't mind completely misrepresenting real information)
customer : So other amplifiers are more reliable ?
salesman : Yes, this one we've never had come back .... (or sold any)
etc....
rgds, sreten.
customer : I'd like like to listen to a NAD 3020
salesman : Why ? they are not very good (we haven't got any in stock)
customer : Why ? What's wrong with them ?
salesmen : They are unreliable, we've had more returns of them than any other amplifier.
(When we've got them in stock they are the only budget amplifier we can shift, nothing
else gets a look in, but then I don't mind completely misrepresenting real information)
customer : So other amplifiers are more reliable ?
salesman : Yes, this one we've never had come back .... (or sold any)
etc....
rgds, sreten.
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I personally sold 100s & 100s of these. I've owned at least a dozen. It is true that other amps were more reliable, but it still took about 10 years before they started breaking in any sort of regular fashion. And many are still alive 30+ years later.
dave
dave
No doubt the one I had was originally sold by you. It served me well for many years as a headphone amp and preamp.
jeff
jeff
It's down to price, innit? Here they sold off UK review copy as a premium product.
Suddenly they didn't look or sound so good. The nostalgia market is another matter - it's quite brisk!
Suddenly they didn't look or sound so good. The nostalgia market is another matter - it's quite brisk!
My 3020A still works perfectly 🙂 Sold a shed load of them during my time in retail, can't recall any coming back. All well and good except my stock of alternative amps was stuck on the shelf gathhering dust 🙁
Try it as a poweramp. I think that's the best way to use a 3020. It really kicks ***, if you dont need to much power. It's not the most refined sound, but it seems to do nothing wrong. The preamp I find a quite dull.
ok ... here is some statistics
in my company we repair or upgrade about 400 amplifiers per year so if you really want a picture i can give it for you ....
in 400 amplifiers we actually have to repair very few.... they might have a lot of small issues but no actual damage
so ...an average commercial Japanese amplifier like luxman pioneer technics akai or similar ( generally speaking for makes of that time around the 80's) will happily work for about 30-35 years and when it comes to service will only need a very good cleaning pots and switches all brand new fresh capacitors a couple of trimmers and that's about it ...obviously and given the quality of parts used expect this amplifier to live another 50 years this time since caps inside are 105 deg. and beefed up regarding capacity and voltage .....
now as about 3020 in Athens only about 2.000 pcs were sold and so far we only had only 1 ( one) call received for a service request .... reason is that 2000 pcs of 3020 all failed and are thrown away since repair attempts also failed and that happened long time ago ...so 3020 now can only be found in scrap yards or flea markets
even later models where too complicated without a reason or fail for a number of wrong issues such is thermal stress ,marginal trafos ,soldering and/or wrong choice of parts that never happens to Japanese amplifiers ....
sorry to disappoint you i am just laying out the facts here ....
in my company we repair or upgrade about 400 amplifiers per year so if you really want a picture i can give it for you ....
in 400 amplifiers we actually have to repair very few.... they might have a lot of small issues but no actual damage
so ...an average commercial Japanese amplifier like luxman pioneer technics akai or similar ( generally speaking for makes of that time around the 80's) will happily work for about 30-35 years and when it comes to service will only need a very good cleaning pots and switches all brand new fresh capacitors a couple of trimmers and that's about it ...obviously and given the quality of parts used expect this amplifier to live another 50 years this time since caps inside are 105 deg. and beefed up regarding capacity and voltage .....
now as about 3020 in Athens only about 2.000 pcs were sold and so far we only had only 1 ( one) call received for a service request .... reason is that 2000 pcs of 3020 all failed and are thrown away since repair attempts also failed and that happened long time ago ...so 3020 now can only be found in scrap yards or flea markets
even later models where too complicated without a reason or fail for a number of wrong issues such is thermal stress ,marginal trafos ,soldering and/or wrong choice of parts that never happens to Japanese amplifiers ....
sorry to disappoint you i am just laying out the facts here ....
by the way one remarkable thing is that Greeks used to be party animals so that means that at some point all of these amps was pushed to hell ...difference is that Japs survive while NAD failed
All you have to do is go on Ebay and see all the "as is", "needs repair", "untested", "has issues" NAD gear forsale and you get an idea. When compared to the Jap gear they didn't do so well even though most was made in Japan. They did have good sound, real world controls & inputs and outputs, anti mass produced electronics stigma, adult audiofile affilliation. People loved their gear, talked proud and reminisce how pleased they were with the product. I have several old pieces that I really enjoy. I'm just waiting for them to break down. LOL Ebay is the perfect place for them....
How do you know that's a fact. It was very popular i Denmark, and there is still a lot of working 3020's in Denmark.
Compared to small tripath amps, it still kick but as a power amp. I don't have one, but I would like to, just to have a reference amp (not as in high end, but just to have a minimum standard)
when in a company you repair 400 amplifiers per year the latest almost 10 years facts like that come handy and information from the local market comes very easy ...
Still the indication might be false since as i said the audio crowd of that times was aiming to parties rather than high quality sound .There is a very good chance that these amps failed cause pushed beyond limits.
I also know some people that still own flawless 3020 but that will be a gentle listener and the duty will be casual listening in "normal" reproduction levels .
Still the indication might be false since as i said the audio crowd of that times was aiming to parties rather than high quality sound .There is a very good chance that these amps failed cause pushed beyond limits.
I also know some people that still own flawless 3020 but that will be a gentle listener and the duty will be casual listening in "normal" reproduction levels .
It's just recollections but if you think about it, you notice they lasted less in warm climates. They were a thermal disaster in many ways - from the half-baked thermal compensation to the nasty circuit breakers on the output. Perhaps this was fine in the UK, Canada etc. but not so reliable further south. Certainly, here they were OK with careful owners (read: seldom and only quietly used) but died quickly in the hands of people who turned up the music. One summer party and it was all over for NADs. Most were gone within 10 years.
I concur with the Sakis's experience - few survived to warrant routine service and those I was asked to check as used purchases nearly always had issues with the circuit breakers or overheating and failing output stages. Disappointingly, the same problems persisted even in much later but very similar models.. I just don't think they were designed, tested or monitored adequately.
I concur with the Sakis's experience - few survived to warrant routine service and those I was asked to check as used purchases nearly always had issues with the circuit breakers or overheating and failing output stages. Disappointingly, the same problems persisted even in much later but very similar models.. I just don't think they were designed, tested or monitored adequately.
It was used (and abused) as a poweramp without issue. I guess I had a good one. Phew!
jeff
I bought a NAD 3020 in 1981. The salesman was very helpful and did not try to talk me into another brand. But then again it was actually an 'upmarket' shop and the 3020 opened up a new market for them, hehehehe.
A pair of AR 18 speakers were acquired next to go with them. I reached Nirvana(!) when I added a Linn Sondek with Linn Basik tonearm and ADC ZLM cartridge. This was quite the thing to do, according to the British hi-fi press at the time. My friends thought I was nuts to spend so much money on a turntable, until I played some music...!
Thinking back, I should have stuck with that system. Trying to improve on it was just a never ending vicious spending spree of diminishing returns. 🙁
A pair of AR 18 speakers were acquired next to go with them. I reached Nirvana(!) when I added a Linn Sondek with Linn Basik tonearm and ADC ZLM cartridge. This was quite the thing to do, according to the British hi-fi press at the time. My friends thought I was nuts to spend so much money on a turntable, until I played some music...!
Thinking back, I should have stuck with that system. Trying to improve on it was just a never ending vicious spending spree of diminishing returns. 🙁
If I'm going to have a 2. (vintage) system, it would be Snell KII, NAD 3020 and Rega Planar 2. It would be dead cheap and sound wonderfull.
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