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NAD D3045 Review (Integrated Amplifier)

Rate this amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 12 4.0%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 64 21.3%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 183 61.0%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 41 13.7%

  • Total voters
    300

PeteL

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A lot of good but not a shred of great. Also a lot of money. I can put something together with separates that, for the same or not much more money, can do all of that great.
I find that difficult to find, Two channels 75 Watts,power amp, headphone amp, analog preamp with sub out capability, DAC, phono pre for 800, do you mind disclosing what you would go for to get all that for that little? For fairness I am not including HDMI Arc since it's fairly unique in 2 channels, but even without...
 

daverosenthal

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I owned another (D3020) very similar unit. It aged worse than any other piece of hifi gear I have ever owned. The 'soft touch' plastic they used turned into goo over time, the OLED screen completely burnt itself out and faded to nothing, the USB input stopped working, then eventually the whole thing just started to power itself off during startup with increasing frequency until it became a brick. I would need a really compelling reason to ever buy another mini integrated from NAD again...
 
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PeteL

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Very nice all-in-one product. Easily beaten in most respects by separates for less money, but not if HDMI ARC is important to you. Would be considerably more impressed if it was $600 or less.

Edit: forgot about the phono preamp since I have no use for one. It seems like an unnecessary addition, but if you really need both phono and HDMI plus a DAC, headphone Amp, and speaker amp, I'm not so sure you can top this even with separates for the same price.
Sub out is not so easy to find neither in desktop class separates. Of course not everybody needs all that, but I do need all that and more. I still don’t have need for this product but if I had to start from scratch, was really tight with the money and space, It’s certainly hard to beat
 

beefkabob

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I find that difficult to find, Two channels 75 Watts,power amp, headphone amp, analog preamp with sub out capability, DAC, phono pre for 800, do you mind disclosing what you would go for to get all that for that little? For fairness I am not including HDMI Arc since it's fairly unique in 2 channels, but even without...
E30 + L30 = 299. That's DAC and preamp. Some better amps than this while keeping under $500. Do you need phono and hdmi inputs? Adjust the budget. The use case for NAD is understandable. It's got a lot in one box. None of it is great. It's all just good.
 

xarkkon

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Inclusion of HDMI ARC to receive digital audio from smart TV is rare and appreciated.
Aye! Seriously, more lifestyle integrated amps need this functionality. The only reason I'm still in the Sonos ecosystem is the ease of switching between TV and music streaming in my living room without needing any extra remotes.
 

ivayvr

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"The use case for NAD is understandable. It's got a lot in one box. None of it is great. It's all just good."
This unit is definitely not intended for perfectionists or "audio enthusiasts".
I believe that most people would not even consider a multi box solution if they can avoid it. The flexibility this unit offers is hard to beat. Most people don't even know what the S/N is or if 90 dB is better or worse than 120 dB.
About the bad ergonomics and difficulty turning it on or off, I don't see the problem since it comes with a remote so you don't ever need to touch the amp. Add to that that with NAD the available power is usually under rated rather than over rated, so you don't need to worry if the declared power is borderline...
I had both the original that started it all 3020 over 40 years ago and the D3020 version and the D3020 definitely did not tarnish the reputation of the original.
I could not resist the claims of "intoxicating musicality" or whatever of Rega Brio current model and was deeply and completly underwhelmed when I switched to it. We parted after only a few months.
 
OP
amirm

amirm

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Is there a reason why the amplifier multitone measurement is not zeroed?
No good reason. Just signs of me getting too old to catch stuff like this. :)
 

voodooless

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What’s up with these moronic digital filters nowadays? That alone should disqualify this otherwise fairly competent multi tool.
 

dsnyder0cnn

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I had one of these for a while and thought that it sounded pretty good for what it is. However, as others have commented, now that we can buy the Topping E50 + L50 + PA5 + cables for about the same price…the value proposition is a bit of a struggle. Of course, the stack lacks a phono stage, so there's that.
 

valerianf

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As my audio requirements are very basic (stereo analog in to speaker outputs without any treatment) I chose the Yamaha WXA50 that was cheaper.
I do not regret it.

Advantage of this NAD is a far greater input/output gain.
 
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PeteL

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E30 + L30 = 299. That's DAC and preamp. Some better amps than this while keeping under $500. Do you need phono and hdmi inputs? Adjust the budget. The use case for NAD is understandable. It's got a lot in one box. None of it is great. It's all just good.
Yes of course if you just need half of what it offers,indeed you don’t have to pay for what you don’t need with separates, I tought you meant it was less expensive to purchase the equivalent in separate. yes, you can put together a headphone rig for less money if that’s all you need. But your post said « Could do all of that great ». That is what I was replying to.
 
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xaviescacs

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What’s up with these moronic digital filters nowadays? That alone should disqualify this otherwise fairly competent multi tool.
The Marantz SACD also had a NOS filter as the default one and AFAIK both brands have this reputation of having a "warm" sound...
 

Rja4000

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It is competent in every category. It is not state of the art and can't be with this much functionality and price point. It puts a smile on my face knowing that every circuit was well engineered and closed loop tested with measurement.
That's Audiosciencereview.com effect, for sure !
 

milosz

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As my audio requirements are very basic (stereo analog in to speaker outputs without any treatment) I chose the Yamaha WXA50 that was cheaper.
I do not regret it.

Advantage of this Denon is a far greater input/output gain.
Denon???
 

Koeitje

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Its fine product as it is and I would love to see more like it, just too bad about the filter. I can live with the pre-amp being garbage, because who uses an analog source with this anyway, but having a proper filter for the DAC should be so easy to fix. Everything else is right in that "good enough" category for a nice all in one solution like this.
 

DSJR

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Decent product for the £599 uk price.
Yeah indeed - What else is there for easy UK availability? Rega Brio R (and we can all guess how badly that would perform here although it 'sounds' fine enough but no digital inputs...). NAD here has a distributor, but I worry about far eastern imports though with the long distances and logistic issues we're currently suffering (COVID is still a very common excuse/reason for slow innefectual deliveries).
 
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