Anybody used Nikko amps before?

bgross, we’re living mirror lives! I, too, purchased the Nikko stack from Tech Hifi the same year. It was advertised in Tech Hifi’s beautiful color catalog as one of their high-end solutions. It took a while to trade up to the Nikko stack (Alpha 220, Beta 20, Gamma 20), but I got there. I began a couple years prior with a Marantz 2216b (still collectible). I demoed the Nikko stack several times in the high-end sound room -- almost always with Klipsch Cornwalls. I was hooked with one listen. The Cornwalls were too expensive and too huge to fit in my childhood bedroom, so I settled for their soul brothers -- Cerwin Vega’s (HED-3000, 3-way, w/12 " woofers and horn tweeters). Teenage heaven. Led Zeppelin, The Who, AC/DC, Van Halen could all crack plaster with that setup. I still have the Philips turntable. My poor parents.

I picked up a second Alpha 220 to bi-amp a set of Snell D’s for several years. Wow. Tight, deep bass and crystal clear vocals. The imaging was second-to-none.

Eventually I also picked up the Beta 40 and Gamma 40. I must say, the Beta 40 is audibly better than the Beta 20.

About 5 years ago I finally bought a set of 1984 Klipsch Cornwalls via eBay. One owner, oiled walnut finish & mint condition. I’m living the dream. Concert hall sound in my living room.

My system is basically 35 years old and I’ve never heard a better setup. The Nikko amps are amazing -- warm, clear and quick. Apparently, they are also built to last.

If I can find nice Alpha 440, I’d pick that up for a try, too.

They are all good amplifiers, overall. They are also old by any reach of that word (audio amplifier dog years) and require a full on re-capping.

The biggest problem with them is they pop at turn on. Basically no sign there is anything getting close to being bad and ’pop!’ at turn on, and you’ve got a blown channel. The alpha 220 and 230 were famous for this. But then again, they can be forgiven as in most cases they have this happen when they are 20-25 years old.

Thus, a working alpha I is likely a decent sounding budget amplifier, at the right price, but add in the fact that they MUST be recapped and very very soon. No games there, it’s Russian roulette every time you hit the power switch. With the right kind of rebuild and refreshing effort... it can probably perform beyond most of the mid grade crowd.

The problem is that people tell themselves, ’I’ll just listen to music today and think about the required rebuild tomorrow’. then they go through a few months or weeks of slowly relaxing..and thinking everything is fine - they use the amplifier every day. "Nothing wrong here, hah, that dude on the internet, he was wrong, I beat the odds!"

But there are no odds here, there is only the 100% inevitability of what is to come.

So they relax their guard and forget the amplifier is a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode. and one day soon, boom!..thar she blows!

All they had to do is stop using it and get it recapped. And it would have then lasted another 20 years.

Thank you teo_audio.  I have a great technician.  Are there any parts that would require replacement that are no longer available or are they all available and the recap a standard job on these amps?  Thanks in advance.

The output devices on the 220, 230, 440, 450, etc, are built out of long extinct unobtanium.

I’ve no idea what is inside the alpha 1.

Its the turn on surge when you hit the switch... as the feedback loop of the amplifier attempts to stabilize the amp at turn on, and this particular surge in the standard alpha design ...causes such a hard slam to the circuit, that it can pop the output stage and the driver stage, all the way up into the fet input chip (2x fet in a 7 pin sip, the 068 unit, iirc) and part of the feedback circuit. all these parts are old stock and sometimes hard to find. This channel popping problem is due to the small signal 'front end' capacitors being dried out and way off spec.

So an immediate small signal front end re-capping... is a ’immanent alarm bell flashing red light’ requirement, for any nikko amplifier.