NAD D3045 Hybrid Digital Amplifier, Black

I bought this NAD D3045 from Sevenoaks Sound and Vision, not Amazon, and received good service. The amplifier replaces an old NAD 3020 which I have used for almost 40 years, and still works well but does not handle digital input. I was originally looking for a soundbar to improve the sound from a Panasonic TV, but after some research realised that we could use our existing speakers with a digital amplifier instead, and get better sound than using a soundbar at an equivalent cost. Really glad we went for this! The amplifier sounds vastly better than the TV speakers and integrates well with our TV, so the panasonic remote control works to increase/decrease the volume or mute the sound. We have a DVD player attached, which sounds great playing DVDs or CDs - good sound range, very clear and precise sound. It also connected easily with my iPhone by bluetooth allowing me to play or stream music, again with good quality. There is plenty of power to drive the Monitor Audio speakers attached to it, more than enough for our living room. Extremely pleased with this amplifier. The only down points are that the remote is a bit small, and the case is plasticky, but these are very minor.

So, I decided to upgrade my desktop set-up from my extremely reliable Bose Companion 5 set. The Bose is great, lovely warm sound, simple set up but only delivers a max of 96Hz, and since I have a lot of DSD files I thought I'd se about moving up a bit. I already have the excellent Q Acoustics Q7000 as my surround in the living room, so I picked a couple of the Q700LRi. They're perfect desktop speakers. To compliment those I went with a CA Minx 201 sub, which a perfect SW for a desktop set-up. Crazy small footprint but great bass resolution. However, the amp was a bit tricker to source. I initiall went with a SMSL DA9 amp since that had good revioew and seemed to meet my needs. But, it had horrendous whine/squeal when connected to my PC usb. I think I may have been sent an open-box returned item. Not great obvs. So, that went back and a bit more investigation led me to the D3045. The USB input, in-built DAC and headphone amp, 2-way blutooth plus all the other inputs seemed to be perfect for my use case. So, now I've had a couple of days of auditioning the NAD and can say that I'm impressed and happy. The sound is lovely. Revealing but warm. Nice soundstange from the Q Acoustics. Enough power for my small-field and that CA Minx sub really is the icing on top. Sure, the remote is horrible (and the app is even worse) but it works and, combined with the auto-on feature, means I rarely have to touch the amp. All in all its a step up from the Bose. It doesn't go beyond 384Hz for my DSDs and is just 60w, but that's fine. And with all the additional inputs it's got room to grow. It is expensive and some prices are ridiculously overpriced (I bought mine from Ebay for a fraction of the new price), so I would shop around if you're looking for one but the size (23cm high and only 7cm wide) means that it can sit on your desk with no problem. Well done NAD!

First of all I did not purchase this item from Amazon but from Sevenoaks Sound and Vision who have treated me well. The good bits: The amplifier sounds very good compared to the previous amp I had, a Yamaha WXA-50. Compared to the Yamaha the soundstage seems a bit more open and the sound a bit warmer. The not so good bits: Although I am running the amplifier horizontally with the supplied stick-on feet attached as per instructions and with plenty of air space around it, the unit runs incredibly hot especially considering the case is all plastic. Because of the heat it emits an appalling hot plastic smell which literally gets up my nose and makes me feel nauseous. The display on the front is next to useless, it is so dim. Also the function indicator is so small that you need to be a foot away from the amp to tell which function you are using. While on the subject of function control this amplifier has no way of skipping from one selected input to another. You just have to keep winding your way through them all until you hit the right one and the function selector knob on the front seems a bit disconnected to say the least. The dreaded remote control operation. As others have remarked the operation of the remote is very hit and miss. Often you will need five or six presses before it does anything. This is not a faulty remote or battery because the same thing happens when I control it with my Logitech Harmony setup. Also after the unit has been on for ten to fifteen minutes it will switch it self off and, on switching it back on, it will go off again after a few minutes. As I use this with operate speakers for TV sound you can imagine this is particularly annoying if I'm watching a programme. It is easy to imagine that this is a heat related fault but after the amplifier has been rebooted a couple of times it will then continue to run for a couple more hours without issue. So I don't think heat related. Another joyous foible related to the remote [either the NAD remote or my Logitech one] is that when you have finished with it for the night and switch it off more often than not it will switch back on again, twice! I think for the money NAD are charging for this amplifier it is not very good value for money and I certainly would not recommend it. The case, apart from the heat issue, is a very flimsy plastic and will 'creak' when handled. Compared to the Yamaha WXA-50 at £379.00, which at 50 wpc is nearly as powerfu, is very sturdily built, has internet radio, Airplay and good, solid metal speaker terminals with holes in the big enough to handle the thickest of speaker cables this NAD represents very poor value.

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.