NAD D3045 Hybrid Digital Amplifier, Black

Great amplifier. Pure, clean sound in a compact form factor. My only complaint is the remote. You have to be within about 6’ of the amplifier and pointed right at it for the remote to work. Very frustrating. Also, the display is very small...volume levels are easy to read, but source selections are tiny and impossible to read unless you are standing directly in front of the device. Still, these are minor annoyances. I feel I made the right choice and am very happy overall with this amplifier.

Endlich ein Amp der (fast) alles kann. Klingt über USB sehr gut (decodiert auch MQA und DSD), Installation sehr einfach. Toll ist auch, dass er jede Quelle auf Bluetooth senden kann (für Kopfhörer z.B.), das Pairing ist aber etwas tricky. Sehr kräftiger Kopfhörerverstärker. Nur das Display könnte eine Idee heller und auskunftsfreudiger sein.

Awesome little amp, perfect for a desktop based system due to its tiny size, yet has the power and features to do just as well in a main set up. With all of its features, excellent sound quality, and MQA DAC too, This one is hard to beat for the $$.

I didn’t want a ‘piece of furniture’ amp. It needed to be small, vertical oriented, with single hdmi arc. I’ve been looking for this for years. It sounds perfect driving my small minx speakers/sub combo. Replaces my Bluesound powernode. Awesome nad.

This was an upgrade from the NAD 3020v2 only after a LOT of deliberation primarily around price as I found that ultimately comparable units from other manufacturers cost more. Also, while I wanted to try eqpt from a different mfr. we really love the 3020, many reviews from people who did the same upgrade indicate that it was a good move. The reason for the upgrade from the 3020 is that it is NOT strong enough to power a turntable even though it has the input capability and the newly purchased turntable was otherwise useless, so rather than acquiring a pre-amp it made sense to go with a more powerful amp. From the get go, I was Shocked at the Size Difference between the 3020 and the 3045. One of the things about the 3020 is its petite footprint: I Love that! The 3045 is Mongo in comparison and I Don't love that. Another thing lovely about the 3020 is its high quality fit and finish. The 3045 disappoints in this department. The unit I rcvd. came with a flawed casing trim that looks like and is cheap plastic and its two ends don't line up well making it obvious where the seam is. Also, the remote, which admittedly has improved function over the notoriously weak 3020 came with a battery tray that fits loosely into the module and looks as though it is going to work its way out of its slot, and while it does actually work I am not at all impressed by the poor 'Made in China' fit and finish of the overall device including the remote. As to sound reproduction, well, it is difficult to criticize this for it is truly exceptional. All of the mid to high range sound elements are discrete and pristine creating a sound that is bright and crystalline and impressively so. As to the low end, or bass elements, this machine is pre-progammed with varying levels of what the company calls high pass which I understand is to accommodate the use of a sub-woofer. What it does is allow one to decide the crossover for the bass response with the signal split between speakers and subwoofer at pre-set crossover levels. There are four different levels (40, 80, 120 and BassEQ), the higher the setting the less bass response sent to the main speakers. On a practical level, running through Q3050 tower speakers, is that at 120 the sound is far too bright and becomes unpleasant to hear after a short time; the next step down (or up), 80, allows more bass, but is still too bright and bass light. Meanwhile, the next setting, 40, actually sends too much low end to the speakers (audioQ3050) causing a muddled and thumpy bass response. Fortunately, the Q3050's come with foam dampers that can be fitted into the bass port which was exactly what was needed for our room to give a fully dimensional bass beat and low end sound. Not sure what the BassEQ does but using it results in a lot more bass response that is beyond what we want, and as the 40mhz setting in conjunction with foam dampers in place on the 3050's works really, really well, that is this system is to be played. Note that this unit does power a phonograph adequately, but if you play a lot of record LPs I would NOT recommend buying this machine for this purpose unless you also get some kind of a pre-amp or are only playing it in an intimate setting. Also, this machine has a USB that people are using for high quality streaming devices. This is something that we are definitely interested in exploring, so points to NAD for that thoughtful addition. The notoriously weak remote of the 3020 is improved upon with the 3045 but NAD should have included a function that allows one to revert or go back to the previous Bass pass setting without having to cycle through them all in order to revert to the immediately previous setting. The biggest reason we stuck with NAD for this upgrade is the Auto Off feature which is a critical component because this is primarily used as a nighttime pre-sleep wind down device and it would make us crazy if the thing stayed on all night after our selection has played through. It is difficult to know which other, similar amps have this feature and how well it works. NAD's auto off function is Excellent and it seemed like more effort than it was worth to actually find a device that both sounds as good or better than the 3045 does and which has a reliable auto off function. This was really the determinative factor in our buying decision. Now then, if this machine is that good, why rate it only three stars? For the following reasons: 1) Dimensions are mongo compared to the 3020. 2) Fit and finish are punk. 3) Function display is weak so that it is difficult to see from a distance what function is in use, unlike the 3020 which stacked them so one could tell by the position of the maker light which of the functions was activated (phono, Bluetooth, Aux., etc). Having said that, while the added knob on this device for changing functions is convenient I frankly would prefer less knob if it also meant smaller case dimensions. 4) Finally, as to sound reproduction. It is a funny thing but the 3020, as set up in our bedroom, created a sound stage that, with closed eyes one could almost imagine an instrument being played in the room. The 3045's sound reproduction, on the other hand is so clear and pristine that it is almost clinical so that, with closed eyes, one truly appreciates how well-produced the tracks are. In other words, the 3045 sounds like studio perfection, but one is never fooled into believing one is listening to a live instrument (I speak of this only in the context of listening to the speakers in their ideal soundstage). This is fantastic for music that is highly produced so, for instance, and I am going to drop names here, a song like 3raniac's Fresh New Eyes is perfect for this kind of listening. I would argue that some music will only fully reveal itself to your ears if listened to through something like the 3045, e.g. highly produced, multi-textural, layered sound. On the other hand, more straight forward music production of what should be just a band playing music is going to sound like professionally reproduced studio sound when coming from the 3045. Funnily enough, it wasn't until listening to the music from outside of the sound stage was I fooled by the 3045 into thinking I was hearing live instrumentation and it was when the saxaphones come in on Moondog's 'Bird's lament' and, also to Howlin' Wolf's 'How Many More Years'. After this experience I have come to appreciate the 3045's delivery a bit more in relation to the 3020 which could never make an instrument sound live outside of its direct line of sound, or soundstage. To deserve 5 stars this 3045 needed to be smaller in overall size; have immaculate fit and finish; more functionality of remote's features; better display elements on the amp case itself.