Advice for a new receiver/amplifier?

thanks, these yamaha and onkyo options look promising. what do you like about the nad, niels?

I used to work for a company with a close connection to NAD so I'm biased, but I really think it is the coolest little digital amplifier you can get. Reasonably priced, takes up very little space, sounds awesome and packs a surprising amount of power - will drive almost any speaker! Built-in bluetooth and USB input is very practical, and although I love analog amps I think the future is digital, so (though I'm not an engineer) the digital amp design makes sense to me.

It was very well received at the time https://www.whathifi.com/nad/d-3020/review but it's possible there are more quality digital amps on the market now

Bought one for my younger brother, matched with a set of Dali Zensor 3's - he loves it

I didn't know the NAD was in your price range; if so, i'd go for that. Clean, honest power by reputation -- the on-board DAC is likely the Burr-Brown set-up... looks GREAT!

i've been loving the second-hand NAD i bought a handful of years ago but one of the channels seems to be crapping out. this is a vague question, but does anyone think this is worth taking in to a shop to be looked at versus trying to find a inexpensive replacement? am in school right now so am on a poor student budget. i think this thing is >20 years old

my guess...is unlikely that it's worth fixing

NAD products are not as disposable as most big-box electronics... ...i suppose it depends mostly if you have a decent repair shop in your area (because shipping costs can take a big bite out of any repair budget). Also, the repair shop does not necessarily have to be an Authorized NAD outlet to get good work. I would google the NAD model number and symptoms and look through the myriad discussion forums to try and narrow the possible repair schemes.