NAD D3045 Niche Integrated Amp $800 (60×2)
(9 5/16h, 2 13/16w, 10 7/16d, 8lbs)
One of the cool things about NAD is its willingness to make a niche product here and there.
In addition to plenty of bread and butter products that sell to most people, NAD is willing to make
some pieces with interesting and worthwhile features- despite their somewhat limited ability to sell.
D3045 starts as a solid 60×2 integrated amp in a “tower” form. Or, lay it down and it
isn’t a tower any more! Hence from the outset, D3045 is a different form factor from most- and it is flexible.
An NAD with 60 w/ch is no small integrated. If you know NAD at all, you know their amps have peak power of double or more the RMS rating. They are comfortable into any impedance. They SOUND smooth and strong.
The well known names available on Amazon have a lot more features but barely hit rated power- and even warn you to run speakers with a certain impedance because they’ll run hot and DIE on you. They print these warnings right on the back of the chassis. Google the images!
D3045 has a DAC on board. It accepts two Optical, one Coax and one USB-B. That’s a flexible array.
D3045 has MM phono on board- with serious attention paid to the RIAA circuit.
D3045 has one set of RCA analog inputs.
D3045 has one HDMI input! Yup! These guys are THINKING about a particular user who will likely want to run his cable TV box or other HDMI source into this fine two channel system. That’s why I call this NICHE.
D3045 has right and left analog, RCA preamp outs- that can drive an outboard amp or subwoofer.
D3045 has outstanding binding posts for your speaker connections.
D3045 runs cool as a cucumber and yet drives all but the biggest speakers out there.
Now, if you DON’T need the specific D3045 features of USB-B or HDMI, I would prefer to
buy the NAD C368 $1000 (80×2, bridgeable to 300×1). But… D3045 may be all you need- and with
its clever array of inputs and outputs- might be ideal for you.
For example, if you have an office system with a computer and TV nearby, and you want to run some sweet speakers like GoldenEar Aon 2s ($800pr with ribbon tweeters), D3045 might be just the ticket!
