The Eighties were a glorious time for budget integrated amplifiers. Sales (and the resultant profits) were huge, leading manufacturers to fight tooth and nail for a larger piece of the pie. The great news for buyers was an escalation in sonic ability that hasn’t been repeated since. The RA820BX we have here, kindly loaned to us by Rotel UK, is an excellent example of the kind of product made at the time.
However, our story doesn’t start with Rotel at all. It begins with a small, then London-based company called New Acoustic Dimension, better known as NAD. In the late ’70s, NAD launched the now legendary 3020 integrated amplifier. This was an unassuming thing with basic features and a fairly flimsy build. The’s archives, we find that it sold for a modest £71 in 1979.
