Whenever I find them at reasonable prices, I re-acquire audio components I owned and enjoyed in the 80s. I started my quest with the Grace G707 tonearm, a TDA1541-equipped Magnavox CDB 473 CD player and the dynakit stereo 35 PP EL84 power amp. I also tried to rekindle my affection for the BBC LS3/5A monitor and my MC SUT collection now includes a pair of Sony HA-T10s. Meanwhile, I've been hunting for an AR XA turntable and a first generation NAD 3020 to complete my journey back in time.
AR XA
My first turntable while I was in college was a Dual CS505-1. But that ownership was brief because the sonic superiority of a thrifted AR turntable was too difficult to overlook. I must have collected at least half a dozen unloved ARs because back then, I used to pick them up anywhere from only 7-15 bucks each. While I was hacking Dyna PAS preamps and ST70 amps, I was also tinkering with AR TTs and gradually progressed to modifying them to accommodate other tonearms, i.e. Grace G707 and Mayware Formula 4. Eventually, I discovered Merrill/AR upgrade ads on the back pages of Audio magazine and thought I had built my end-game turntable, only to be distracted before the end of the 80s by a Thorens TD124...π
I paid $30 (ca. 2021) for this late vinyl clad unit at a flea market, sans counterweight, only because I thought I had one in my parts bin. No got! Frustrated, I ordered one from Pat's on eBay. AR TT rehab was like riding a bicycle, I started by cleaning all the rubber residue from the pulley and inner hub, flushed and re-lubricated the main bearing and tonearm wells, then added a few drops of DTE 25 oil into the tiny AC synchronous motor. Finally, I fitted a fresh rubber belt laced with talcum powder. The spring suspension didn't require tweaking since it didn't bottom out and it bounced evenly.
NAD 3020
Last year, I spotted this original NAD 3020 at the Kutztown Radio Show. It's from the first series just like the unit I owned in the early 80s. After cleaning up the chassis and circuit boards, I checked every component in the circuit. All the capacitors measured their indicated capacitance value (or greater) and none showed signs of bulging or indicated shorts. Then, I squirted all the controls and switches with DeoxIT.
I plugged the amp to my Variac and slowly ramped up the AC. After reaching full AC voltage current draw seemed very normal and stable. There was no DC at the preamp output and speaker output terminals so I proceeded with my normal test bench routine. After confirming that the phono stage was working and measuring 28 watts per channel into 8 Ohms before clipping, the amp was ready for time travel!
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| Top left to right: Sennheiser HD6XX, Yamaha YH-1, Sennheiser HD420, Fostex T10, Vector Scan VSH5 and AKG Sextett Bottom: Realistic Pro 30 and Echo N16-40S |
College life meant sharing an apartment, so I spent a lot of time listening to music via Sennheiser HD40s. Strangely enough those beer budget 'phones are very hard to find, so I settled for a pair of more up-market, albeit cheaply obtained, HD420s.
Although I'm not much of a Head-Fi, I built a collection of mostly late 70s/early 80s models during lockdown because I couldn't afford them as a student. Dynamic and orthodynamic (aka planar) headphones from this era were quite inefficient because they were designed to be driven by integrated amps and receivers, not phones or portable devices we have today.π The NAD 3020 drove my classic and contemporary headphones beautifully!π
Even as an audio rookie, I was already aware that the normal amp input had a bandwidth limiting filter network. When used in conjunction with the soft clipping feature, the result is a veiled and compressed sound! Half a minute through this video, I showed the preamp output linked to the lab input + soft clipping off. That's how I've always listened to the NAD 3020, which IMHO, is the solid-state integrated amp for the tube aficionado!π
1980s high end audio salons typically bundled early Snell Es and Js with the NAD 3020 for entry-level hifi setups. Even if my JIIIs are from the early 90s, the design and construction still reveal an abundance of Peter Snell DNA, I thought I'd gain more insight from this trip to the past if I switched to these speakers.
NAD 3020 + Snell Type JIIIs = mellifluous combination!π
I never got the chance to hear the NAD 3020 reproduce a digital signal because I no longer had it by the time I got my first CD player in '87. To be as period correct as possible, I hooked up my stock Magnavox CDB473, inserted my favorite Pat Metheny 80s album and reminisced about bygone record stores and audio shops in NYC.π
It's been a long hot summer and the venerable 3020 has been a delightful musical respite from the heat of my Class A triode amps!ππΆπ
Walt Bender thought very highly of the 3020, obviously not up to WE 124/86 level but definitely better than a boat load of other electrics. I used AR-XAs a lot, in fact one of my favorite record players was a modified one using a Rabco SL-8E on it with a three prong Decca and a Micro Acoustics 2002e. It’s great to know that many of us have traveled the same roads like the tube Dynaco path or Eico. I’ve followed your writings for perhaps a couple of decades now and I think we hear a lot of the same things, like Altec 755as. I hooked up with Scott Pratt and wound up trading a reissue 57 Strat and a early70s DeLuxe Reverb for his cloned Altec 820s and have been addicted to horn speakers since, but I still listen to my 755as. Keep exploring the edges and reporting to back your findings. I have gone off the deep end with horns speakers beyond 820 modified so keep the horn experiences coming
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to hear from someone who shares a similar taste in sound. Thanks for sharing and leaving this note!
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