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Nikko history, info...

I owned a BOTL STA-2020 (or 2010) for a while and needed to fix the preamp board. Turns out I couldn't find a schematic for it so had to trace it out. So all the inputs, selector, tone control is there up to the power amp, also no tuner section, but if anybody is curious about taking a look message me and I can email you a copy.
 
I picked up a Nikko 8085 at a yard sale for 10.00, brought it home and hooked it up. the thing looked mint!!!! All the lights and switches worked. Sounded better than my Harman Kardon HK3700, FM stereo tuner is excellent. Phono Stage excellent. Then 3 days later the right channel went, (low volume and distortion). Dropped it off to a vintage stereo repair shop. If it doesn't cost an arm and a leg I will get it fixed. I really hope it's a reasonable charge because I love the way it looks and Sounds!!!!
 
thedelihaus said:
I'd like to get my facts straight- Nikko gear, who produced/manufactured it, who sold it, and was it a house, or chain brand?

Was it primarily East coast, or West coast, or both?

Any really big fans of it?

How do you feel it compared to other makers?

And what happened to them?

I personally think it's quite beautiful gear, and love the Gamma line, the 550 integrated-amp, and other pieces of gear.

I've heard some feel it's mediocre-made, but my pice of kit seems quite well built.

I'm just looking to expand my knowledge here and set my facts straight.
Thanks!
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Grew up near Detroit and I remember the shops there carrying Nikko. My impression was sort of an entry level line, decent gear on a budget.
 
grundig2k said:
I picked up a Nikko 8085 at a yard sale for 10.00, brought it home and hooked it up. the thing looked mint!!!! All the lights and switches worked. Sounded better than my Harman Kardon HK3700, FM stereo tuner is excellent. Phono Stage excellent. Then 3 days later the right channel went, (low volume and distortion). Dropped it off to a vintage stereo repair shop. If it doesn't cost an arm and a leg I will get it fixed. I really hope it's a reasonable charge because I love the way it looks and Sounds!!!!
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I got it packed a few weeks ago cost $100 to have it recapped and to fix a bad solder point. It's simply sounds fantastic
 
I picked up an NR 719 for about 80 bucks (free shipping) on Ebay, and had to DeOxit a couple of times but it's the best reciever I've ever had and the cornerstone of my sound system.

It hands down sounded better than mid 90s model Technics and Yamaha Recievers and was more powerful than the Quadraflex I grew up with although it had that same old warm hifi sound that it did.
 
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got this 15ish years ago from a GW. mebbe more. recapped it and blew up the power supply and outputs by reversing a cap....recently put it back together and it just sold a few weeks ago. For some reason I have 3 SMs. I know I got one, thot I lost it, got another one, and a week apart they sent me 2....have to get around scanning one to upload here...
 
It seems like this is a super old thread but I still thought of adding my thoughts about Nikko since I stumbled upon this amplifier called "TRM-400S" which is a small 11.8 inches wide metallic purplish color amplifier. I got it fully serviced and hooked it up to my Philips AD1255/M7 speakers. I was so surprised by the sound of it, It sounds amazing with just loudness switched on and all tone controls set at flat. Only 12 Watts per channel and driving the Philips really well. The internals do look like a crows nest and the wires are everywhere but these NIKKO's do sing beautifully. If you come across one for cheap, just buy it, they are amazing with old speakers.
 
Wow, yes old with coattails towards the present! I recently bought a totally re capped Nikko Alpha II 120 watts per channel into 8 ohms and a totally recapped Nikko Beta 20 which was a slightly later unit 1980ish?

So they are like new on the inside but have slight cosmetic flaws.

I have moderately challenging speakers to drive - Ascend Acoustic Sierra 2 EX. They are nominally 8 ohms but are only 86 dB sensitive. I have a Harmon Kardon 3490 and was running them with that receiver. It was very good but then I thought maybe I would upgrade and began to find out that a new dual mono amp and pre amp would run into the thousands. So this Nikko set was a relatively inexpensive alternative.

So is it better than the HK 3490? I really cannot say for sure since I never A/B'd them but I will say that the Nikko setup is very smooth with a nice neutral presentation. Channel separation is great as expected. I think the HK had slightly more bass but there is still no lack of bass with the Nikko. The Ascends go down to 33Hz.

But... after one year of use, one channel would not come on for several seconds after turning on the amp....but only once in a while. After a few seconds delay, the speaker would come on and stay on but I figured this could be a progressive problem. So I sent it back to the shop that refurbished it. Right now I'm running my Beta 20 into my pre-in of the HK 3490.

I am impressed with the Nikko and am glad I have it. I run a Technics 1710 turntable with an Ortiphon Blue. The Nikko Betta 20 has both MM and MC pre amps so I will be experimenting with a MC cart in the future.

It's funny how a little remembered company like Nikko still has users and fans after all these years!
 
Whenever I think of Nikko I think of power amps and how back in 1983 I lusted after a few of those. I heard one driving some Polks.
 
Yes. Speaker selector is most likely it. Your experience with your amp confirms it more!

The person at the shop was pretty sure it was going to be the speaker selector too.

The amp is a good 35 lbs so I he was saying they are going to keep it long enough to be sure it's fixed before it's shipped back to me. Meanwhile my HK is doing fine on the fill-in.
 
Bodyblue said:
Lots of great info on this thread. The 7070 I just got seems to be a pretty decent unit. It has a ton of features for a receiver in the 43 wpc class.

View attachment 1906900 View attachment 1906901
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I'm running 50 wpc at 4 ohms from my Nikko STA-7070 into ESS amt 1aM cabinets--it sounds AWESOME. I always had Pioneer gear and this Nikko compares favorably, possibly even better. Don't mind the temporary setup in the picture; I'm still getting settled into the new house.

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rifmon said:
Yes. Speaker selector is most likely it. Your experience with your amp confirms it more!

The person at the shop was pretty sure it was going to be the speaker selector too.

The amp is a good 35 lbs so I he was saying they are going to keep it long enough to be sure it's fixed before it's shipped back to me. Meanwhile my HK is doing fine on the fill-in.
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I had a similar issue with the speaker selector and the mode selector switches. I looked with a magnifier and the contacts were caked with gunk. DeOxIT 5 and some turning of knobs solved the issue. They're all shiny now. Same with the loudness switch.
 
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