Anybody used Nikko amps before?

I just picked up a nice Nikko Alpha III power amp for next to nothing, and I have to say it's a great little amp. It sounds pretty clean / distortion free and the clipping protection circuit seems to work very effectivley. I'm an Adcom / NAD / Pioneer / Marantz fan, but I have to say that the Nikko holds its own quite nicely. It's 80 wpc is a little too small for the power hungry vintage AR speakers I'm driving with it, but it is clean right up to the max output, and the protection shuts it down right when it should. It's the first Nikko power amp I've ever had (I had one of their analog tuners once that was pretty decent and an integrated receiver that was only so-so) and for the money it's a decent amp - I would've paid more than I did for it if the seller had asked. Super nice build quality, and looks like it has a seperate power supply for left and right channels (ala Adcom GFA-2). Probably best suited for ported or smaller bookshelf speakers, or great for the fronts on a surround system but DEFINATELY NOT GARBAGE!!

I owned the Nikko Alpha 230, Alpha 450 and 330 watt-per-channel Alpha 2000 between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s, as well as the Beta 30 and Beta 600 preamps. The amps were much better than the preamps, having a smooth, sweet sound. In the mid-'90s when I was looking to upgrade my system to something with a little more detail and transparency, I pitted the Alpha 2000 against a number of high end amps and the Nikko held its own. It eventually took a Classé amp costing more than twice that of the Alpha 2000 to better it. Inspite of that, since that time I have been collecting and restoring vintage amps and am sorry that I ever got rid of that Alpha 2000.

Just stumbled across this thread while trying to find some info on a 230 amp for sale locally. What would you guys say would a be a good price of a used 230? There's a guy here selling a 230 amp, and some Nikko pre-amp and equalizer (can't make out the model in the pics) asking $270 can for the lot...

The GF's got me on watch for PA equipment for her soon to be dance studio.

Thanks!

Wow, I thought I was the only one still holding on to Nikko gear!

funknoobiest, that sounds like a fair price for all three pieces. The old Nikko gear is well-built, and was used by DJ's and the like during the 70's and 80's. I still have three pieces; power amp, pre and tuner, all which still work like it did 20 years ago. However, the sound, to me, is just okay. It was more about power than refinement.

If I recall, the gear cost between $200 and $300 per unit, so to get all three for under $300 is probably a good deal.

Does anybody have the service manual for the Nikko Alpha 450? Will the manual for the 440 work? If you have it please email it to me