Desktop Dynamo

RATING

NAD D 3045 Integrated Amplifier/DAC

FIVE YEARS AGO, when I examined NAD’s $399 D 3020, the progenitor of the D 3045 before us here, I liked it—a lot. The D 3020 was among the first of what I’ve come to call DAClifiers: small-ish integrated amps with onboard digital-to-analog facilities intended for audio-streaming or computer playback sources and projecting at least some level of audiophile sophistication.

The D 3045 is very much like the D 3020—although its hard-plastic side/top-cover is a slight comedown from the earlier model’s sexier, hard-rubberized surface. Bigger and more powerful—the new NAD is rated as producing 60 watts per channel compared with the earlier model’s 30 watts—it’s also more feature-packed, adding bi-directional aptX HD Bluetooth, an HDMI-ARC input, a moving-magnet phono input, and line-level preamp/subwoofer outs. Where I described the earlier model as being about the size of a Grape-Nuts box, the D 3045 is more in the Weetabix class, while retaining both the vertical-friendly form-factor and signature single-radiused corner of its predecessor. Like the earlier design,