NAD 3020

[1] Launched in 1978, this highly affordable product delivered a good quality sound, which acquired a reputation as an audiophile amplifier of exceptional value.

[8] The amplifier's main appeal was its inherent musicality, its ability to drive difficult speaker loads, and to allow audiophile grade source components to excel.

[2][3] Launching the product in the US at the Consumer Electronics Show, the company wired up a battery of loudspeakers in a way which presented an impedance of 1.1 ohm, and the amplifier experienced no problems.

[8] Similarly, at its London launch, NAD successfully demonstrated it driving the Linn Isobarik, whose impedance characteristics are known to be very challenging for amplifiers.

[3] Bjørn Erik Edvardsen, NAD's director of advanced development,[1] set out to create an "inexpensive amplifier ... easily capable of driving the very best loudspeakers".

[7] NAD eschewed the laboratory test equipment thinking, which was prevalent at the time, and instead aimed to make their amplifiers capable of properly driving "real loudspeakers" under realistic conditions.

The manufacturer claims the phono input, which can also be used with high-output moving coil cartridges, contains a 6-transistor circuit "engineered for extremely low noise and nearly distortion-free performance".

[7] The amplifier has bass and treble tone controls which, according to the manufacturer, are "tailored for musically effective response in the high and low frequencies without altering the critical mid-range tonal balance".

[14] This facility became hugely popular with audiophiles, who would seek to isolate this "remarkably fine-sounding preamp section", to use with one or more external power amplifiers.

The design also incorporates a separate regulated power supply circuit, fed from a secondary winding on the transformer, dedicated to the pre-amplifier and tone control stages.

[15] Martens complimented the quality of the electronic circuit design, noting in particular that the phono stage "sounded clearer and better balanced than many dedicated phonostages of the day".