NAD 3020A Integrated Amp

The speakers are probably revealing the flaws of the NAD. The NAD has a dry sound, and also lacks transparency. I would try a better amp myself. I think people liked them because they didn't have the solid state harshness, that a lot of other budget amps had in it's day. I'm not trying to be rude, but I think the rest of the system could do better with a different amp. I'm not familiar with that Sansui either.

The caps in that Nad are good 30 years old, generally the life of caps is about 15 years before they start to wear out and change the sound of a particular amp. The real character of this little beauty may not be what you are hearing so making a judgment after 30 years on the sound of the amp is kind of unfair.

In its day it was a great sounding amp and I had the pleasure of listening to one brand new bought by a very close friend who continued to own it for next decade or so driving his Wharfrdale Diamond initially and later the Wharfdale E40's. I had owned the Nad 3225PE which essentially was the same amp albeit with "Power Envelope" circuitry incorporated.

The Nad 3020A was the poor audiophiles integrated amp as I remember it being dubbed by the press.

Just my 0.02

Quadophile:
Do you know if it is possible to replace the capacitors or is that prohibitively expensive to do? I love the design of this amp and a lot of the NAD stuff esp. from this era, so I'd like to stick with it. Looking for a NAD tuner now as well.

Iamnate, most likely not all caps need replacing, just all the electrolytics. Unless you can get a copy of a service manual to identify their location and values and have some de-soldering and soldering skills, you will be advised to find a tech to do this. The labor will be much more than the parts cost.

I have a 3020A I use in with my TV. I replaced the speaker spring clips with mini-binding posts and that is also recommended.

Iamnate,

In my humble opinion the parts and labor will be more than the amount you may have paid for this amp so it is not me who decides. If you are handy with a soldering iron and know a bit about electronics you can do that yourself as suggested by Pryso. If not you need to consider your options

I know exactly what you mean about sound from that era, yes it was musical and warm. I have progressed to tubes and I am blessed with the same kind of sound I used to get from the equipment in question, I owned Quad equipment back in the days and upgraded with another Quad later on.

Here is an option for you to consider in future, as I am very satisfied with what I have now, it gives me the same musical sound as if I was transported back in the 70's and 80's.

What you need to be on the lookout is tube amps from Dared, they are extremely reasonable in price and have the best price/performance ratio under $1000. You can get a used Dared on Audiogon as well as on other sites. I currently use a Dared VP-16 in my bedroom and it is in one word "sweet"

You can get a Dared VP-16 for as little as $350 used (price for new is $895. Another great little model from them is MP-5 (brand new around $550 or thereabouts), You can get them used at much less than a VP-16. Dared has other offerings as well so I suggest you first check out their site when you have time and see what you fancy.

If you have questions or need to know more let me know and I will oblige.