NAD 3120 Specifications

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integrated amplifier

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3120 Integrated AmplifierDate of manufacture : Jan 84 - Jan 87Please note that this document contains the text from the original product brochure, and some technical statements may now be out of dateThe NAD 3020 is the most highly praised low-power amplifier in high-fidelity history. Critics around theworld have praised its accuracy, musicality, and seemingly effortless power. The 3020B the latest versionof this classic, contains several improvements but no fundamental change in design.The 3120 is identical to the 3020B in circuitry and performance, except that it has been simplified bydeleting tone controls and LED power display.The moderately priced 3020B and 3120 stereo amplifiers provide state-of-the-art performance ateffective output power levels substantially greater than would be expected from their conservative ratingof 25 watts per channel. This remarkable characteristic is made possible by a high-voltage, high-currentoutput circuit that can deliver short-term bursts of double or triple the rated continuous power outputinto the typical impedances of real loudspeakers. NAD’s exclusive Soft Clipping” circuit permits listeninglevels even beyond these limits, by reducing harshness at high volume settings. With respect to freedomfrom noise at low levels and freedom from distortion at high levels, the 3020B and 3120 are the mosttruly “digital ready” amplifiers in their price and power class.Designed For Real-World PerformanceSpecification tables and magazine test reports confirm that virtually all modern amplifiers measure wellin the laboratory, with impressive figures for parameters such as the power out-put at 8 ohms and thesignal-to-noise ratio with a short-circuited phono input. But outside of the laboratory, amplifiers are notall equal.At home you don’t listen to signal generators, short-circuits, or 8-ohm test resistors; you listen tocomplex and dynamic musical waveforms, generated by phono cartridges and reproduced throughloudspeakers whose true impedance is rarely 8 ohms. So, rather than incorporating costly refinementsthat yield little or no audible benefit, NAD’s “real world” approach to product design is focused onobtaining optimum performance under the conditions of everyday use.Wide Range Phono Preamplifier. The 3020B/3120 is fully ready to accommodate the demands of thedigital Compact Disc via its high-level AUX input, but as long as LP discs remain a primary music sourcefor most listeners, the quality of the phono preamp circuit must not be compromised.Instead of the usual low-cost IC, the phono preamplifier section of the 3020B/3120 is a newly designeddiscrete transistor circuit whose performance matches that of far more expensive preamp systems. Itinterfaces correctly with the high impedance of many magnetic pickup cartridges: its RIAA equalisation isprecise: and it is virtually distortionless - not only with simple sine-wave test tones but also with dynamicmusical waveforms 30 dB above average level. Its signal/noise ratio is close to the theoretical limit, notonly with the short-circuit input that is often used for specifications, but also when a cartridge isplugged in. Its total dynamic range is approximately 106 dB.Moving Coil InputA rear-panel switch provides the increased gain required for low-output moving-coil cartridges, withextremely low noise, and without the cost and complications of external MC pre-preamps or step-uptransformers.

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