Review: NAD 3120 Amplifier

Category: Amplifiers

I guess we could call this my week end story. I had forgotton all about this little gem from NAD. While cleaning out some closets came across this. To say it was dirty is a major understatement. Started to throw away figuring it just wasn't worth the effort. So finished the so called spring cleaning. With some time left over decided to at least take a further look. Removed the top cover and discovered enough dirt and lint to fill a dirt devil vacumn. Oh well, what the hell,have the cover off. Shook out as much dirt as I could. Then use compressed air to get rid of the remainder of the dirt. After about 4 hours worth of work had the NAD looking like new. Cleaned the volume pot and switches as well as the switches and RCAs on the rear apron.

Now to the litmus test,would it still work? Well I needed some speakers to test,so pulled out the DCM Time Windows. Now needed a source had a Sony CD Player that wasn't being used. So connected everything and turned on the NAD power switch. Placed a Disc in the CD player and the little NAD 3120 came to life and played music with astonshing depth and clarity.

Have to admit i was totally surprised by the sonics of this NAD 3120. While only 25 watts rms per channel played much louder and with more authority than I remembered.

The NAD 3120 is on the same chassis as the venerable 3020, but sans the tone controls,balance control,and LEDs. This is more of a purist version of the 3020, with less noise and blacker background. The NAD 3120 has provision for a turntable and can accept MM or MC phono cartridges. As well the amp and pre amp section can be separated by u shaped jumpers. Which means later on you can add a more powerful amplifier in the future. Has NADs soft clipping feature means if overdriven the waveform voltage so that the output devices are never driven into hard clipping.Thus the amplifier can safely be over driven beyond its rated power without harm to the speakers. There is also a switch on the back to set ohm loading at 8 or 4 ohms depending on which speakers you use. Uses 4 RCA high current out put transistors, that are usually associated with most manufacturers 50 or 60 watt amps. Has built in infrasonic and ultrasonic filters so amplifier power is not wasted on outside sources such as turntable rumble,floor vibrations, etc.

The front panel from left to right is power switch with LED,then buttons,for Aux,Tuner,Phone,Tape,Mono,Loudness and dual concentric volume controls for volume and balance. The loudness control is not the usually boost found on the competition models. The loudness on the NAD 3120 is gently contoured to add just enough compensation to be truly useful.

Here is an entry level integrated amp that delivers the promise of high end. With what I have assembled with the Time Windows and Sony CD Player. One could have one killer $500.00 vintage high end system.And that speaks volumes about the components used in this review.

Have redisovered a true gem that is very easy to live with and the sonics are very good indeed.

The NAD 3120 is a true giant killer among integrated amps, do not let the 25 Watts RMS per channel,keep you from trying one of these,should you be able to find one. I can say without question they are truly durable, do to the condition I found this one in. These were produced from 1984 to 1987 and were hard to find. Most folks were put off by the austere looks. But if you are really into music and are on a limited budget, here is the answer.

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