To Doug Schneider,
The scenario you described in your December, 2018, piece (“NAD’s D 3045: a D 3020 V2 on Steroids?”) outlined my choice exactly. I have an older pair of Paradigm floorstanding speakers (Monitor 7 v6) coupled with a Bluesound Node 2i, but currently routed through a 2007 Harman/Kardon AVR 146 -- the weak link.
The Paradigms have a good sensitivity rating, and many people were posting about the ability of the D 3020 V2 to punch well above its weight class in terms of power, so I thought that this might be the right move (for less $$$). But after calling two reputable local hi-fi shops that carry NAD and asking if this pairing will provide enough power to get me where I want to be, I was told flatly “No.”
So my System One (my only system) will now be the D 3045, Node 2i (mainly streaming Tidal CD and MQA files), and the Paradigm Monitor 7s. Does this seem a credible combo? I’m hoping so.
Thanks for any thoughts you may have, and for writing well.
Cheers,
Guy Saddy
Canada
I agree with the retailers -- the D 3020 is great for the money, but it can come up short on power. As for combining the Bluesound Node 2i with the NAD D 3045 and the Paradigm Monitor 7 speakers, you won’t get any argument from me -- it’s a credible combo. . . . Doug Schneider
