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NAD's D 3020 V2 digital amplifier signs up for the vinyl revolution

NAD's D 3020 V2 amplifier is a blend of old-school analog and digital music with an even more attractive price point than before.

Ty Pendlebury Editor
Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
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NAD

For anyone looking to take the next step beyond a sound bar , a receiver is usually the first place people go. However, the NAD D 3020 digital amplifier made a good case for keeping things simple. Two-channel only, and around the same size as a hardback book, we loved it, calling it "the best AV receiver alternative."

After three years, NAD is releasing an update called the NAD D 3020 V2, and it makes some quite important changes. First, given the vinyl explosion in recent years, the NAD adds a moving magnet phono stage That's great in itself but something had to give, and it's sad to see that it's the USB input. If you wanted to use an amp like this as part of a desktop system, the original makes a better option. If you don't care about PC connectivity, then as an added bonus the updated amp is also $100 cheaper than the original!

The NAD D 3020 V2I is not the most powerful amplifier you can buy at 40 watts per channel, but we expect it should be able to drive speakers like the Elac Debut B6 or Q Acoustics 3020 .

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NAD

Other features include:

  • Optical and coaxial digital
  • Stereo RCA analog
  • Preamp output
  • Headphone amplifier output
  • Subwoofer out

The NAD D 3020 V2 is available now in the US and UK for $399 and £399, respectively, with Australian pricing to be announced. Expect it to be in the region of AU$700 to AU$800, though.