NIKKO SOUND SYSTEM, SET UP HELP!

[SUSAN WOO]

My mom was going to throw this out, but I thought I'd to learn how this works. It's been in the attic for over 20 years now, but not sure how to get this all working again.

The back is a mess and I do not know where to begin. I know nothing, but really eager to learn.

Photo(top to bottom):
NIKKO STEREO CASSETTE DECK ND-750
NIKKO SYNTHESIZED AM/FM TUNER GAMMA 30
NIKKO GRAPHIC EQUALIZER EG20
NIKKO TIME DELAY SYNTHESIZER ATD I
NIKKO PRE-AMPLIFIER BETA 30
NIKKO POWER DISTRIBUTOR NPS I
NIKKO ALPHA 230

This also came with a NIKKO DIRECT DRIVE AUTO-RETURN TURNTABLE NP-800II

Your help would be much appreciated!

 

[Sriskie]

You don't need to have everything hooked up to play music. Start with the Alpha and Beta and plug in whatever you want to use as a source. Take it one step at a time and you'll figure it out.

 

[Dazaa]

Bloody hell thats way too nice to throw away, worth a fair bit of money too.

You need to connect the output of the pre amplifier (Beta 30) to the input of the Power amplifier (Alpha) and then connect a source to one of the inputs of the pre amplifier (for example the turntable goes in to Phono) and obviously the speakers connect to the speaker terminals on the power amplifier.

If it worked when put away it will likely be fine now. Cassette deck probably needs new belts, the turntable too unless its direct drive and if any of the controls are crackling you need to give them a clean with Deoxit.

Edit - I just realised its already connected up, plug it in select a source and see what happens.

 

[WillVT]

Yeah, it looks like it's all wired up already. Are there speakers too? It looks like there are speaker wires in the terminals.
As others have said, that is some pretty nice stuff!

 

[guiller]

Welcome to the AK community!

 

[electronjohn]

Susan...where are you located? Possibly there's an AKer near you who could help get everything sorted out. Niiiiice system there!

 

[HepcatWilly]

Susan, Nikko is very good equipment. The Alpha and Beta are the real gems. You can make a very fine and simple system out of those two components alone.

 

[bshorey]

Yowza! Your Mom can toss that stuff in my dumpster any time, heck, I'll even come and pick it up!

Seriously, where are you located? Somebody should be able to help set that all up. That's a nice stack of equipment you've got there.

If you can't find a local member to stop by and help set it up, I'd agree with the recommendation to start with the preamp, amp, and speakers, then start plugging things in one by one. Once you've connected the preamp to the amplifier, pretty much everything else (source components) will then connect in through the preamp. The tuner should go to preamp tuner inputs, phono to preamp phono inputs, etc.

Chances are the tape deck and turntable might need some servicing to make them operate. You should be able to test it all using the tuner as an input, you can also get a cable and plug in an iPhone or other media player into the AUX inputs.

Good luck with it! That's a very nice setup!

bs

 

[OutlawSun]

My mom was going to throw this out, but I thought I'd to learn how this works. It's been in the attic for over 20 years now, but not sure how to get this all working again.

The back is a mess and I do not know where to begin. I know nothing, but really eager to learn.

Your help would be much appreciated!

That's a nice system. Yeah dealing with the mass of cables and what works with what is pretty overwhelming at first. The preamp is the brain of the whole stack. Almost will be fed back to it in some way. The synthesizer, equalizer, and cassette deck will likely be on the tape loop chained together so preamp to equilizer to synth to cassette deck and back again for example via the rca inputs and outputs on the preamp. I'd assume the cassette deck would potentially need work if it has rubber belts they can potentially break down into goo. The tuner and turntable are pretty simple they'll just run straight to the preamp. The preamp will have an output labels preout, main out, or output that going from the preamp to the amplifier. The speakers will be connected to the red and black terminals on the amplifier. Attached is a rough diagram of the connections to the preamp. It's not your specific model as I couldn't find an instruction manual for it on hifiengine. As far as cable cleanup velcro cable ties are pretty handy when necessary.

Edit: I forget image quality can be funky. Here's the hifiengine link to that particular manual instead.
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/nikko/beta-ii.shtml

 

[Binkman]

greetings.. we were all newbies at everything!
Seems like it's all powered.. so what are you stuck on? many awaiting to help.

You could sell or trade to something more modern to suit your listening.
bink

 

[JDub]

I have the Alpha 230, Beta 30, Gamma 30 and an EQ, although I think it's a different model. It is definitely good quality. The problem is, the Pre is way too complicated for it's own good - for instance it has two tape loops plus a dedicated processor (EQ) loop. And dual outputs. That makes for a lot of push buttons on the front - get one wrong and you get no sound.

Best advice I can give is disconnect the tape and Equalizer inputs & outputs, have the tuner (or another input) running, choose the correct input on both sets of input selection buttons, then press the other process buttons at random till you get a signal out to the amp. Better yet, get help. Do you have the user manuals?

 

[bluesky]

Very Nice!!!!

 

[Aptone]

That is a sweet stack of Nikko equipment, and it looks like it is already wired up. However, as JDub states, the preamplifier is complicated and the time delay is an added and unnecessary complication as well. I echo JDub's advice in making sure speakers are connected, and then turning everything on and try to get sound out by pushing the tuner button on the preamp. It looks like there is an antenna connected to the tuner. Just don't crank up the volume too high or you could get blasted when you hit the right series of buttons.

If you have a manual for the time delay I would love to see a scan of it. Mine is still somewhat of a mystery to me.

Great job saving that equipment from the dump! Good luck!

 

[SUSAN WOO]

I'm located in Los Angeles.
It would be awesome to link up with a local.

 

[SUSAN WOO]

Hi Aptone- I tried looking for a manual, but seems a lot harder to find. One of the speakers are broken. Not sure If I can use that one.
Do you know if this fixable?

But I'm looking at the speaker part and the alpha and the ends of the wires looks like so....

do the speakers plug in from the alpha, or can i plug the speakers in the beta?

 

[SUSAN WOO]

That's a nice system. Yeah dealing with the mass of cables and what works with what is pretty overwhelming at first. The preamp is the brain of the whole stack. Almost will be fed back to it in some way. The synthesizer, equalizer, and cassette deck will likely be on the tape loop chained together so preamp to equilizer to synth to cassette deck and back again for example via the rca inputs and outputs on the preamp. I'd assume the cassette deck would potentially need work if it has rubber belts they can potentially break down into goo. The tuner and turntable are pretty simple they'll just run straight to the preamp. The preamp will have an output labels preout, main out, or output that going from the preamp to the amplifier. The speakers will be connected to the red and black terminals on the amplifier. Attached is a rough diagram of the connections to the preamp. It's not your specific model as I couldn't find an instruction manual for it on hifiengine. As far as cable cleanup velcro cable ties are pretty handy when necessary.

Edit: I forget image quality can be funky. Here's the hifiengine link to that particular manual instead.
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/nikko/beta-ii.shtml

On my amp, my speaker hook up looks like this on both ends. Not sure what do to here.

 

[TomBig58]

The speakers must wire to the Alpha as pictured. The alpha is the power amplifier. The Beta30 is the preamplifier that handles all the inputs from various sources. Your sources are tuner, tape deck, turntable, etc. The easiest to start with is the Gamma 30 tuner, the pre-amplifier, and the amplifier only. Connect left-right from the tuner to left-right labeled "tuner" on the back of the Beta preamp. Connect pre-amp "out" on the Beta to the "in" terminals on the Alpha amplifier. Connect the speakers to the aalpha amplifier. Now you have source (tuner) into pre-amp with all it's controls into the power amplifier into speakers. Plug everything in to power and turn it on you should at least get static. You may need to connect a small piece of wire to antenna to get an FM station. Good luck. By the way, yes it looks like the speakers probably need some work but should push SOME sound. If you see or smell any smoke unplug everything. I'm only partially kidding.

 

[ultumax]

Got pics of the speakers? Nice find !!! From the golden age of home audio and separate equipment monster sized receivers.

 

[Dazaa]

AR M3 speakers, very nice.

 

[OutlawSun]

On my amp, my speaker hook up looks like this on both ends. Not sure what do to here.
View attachment 1301549 View attachment 1301550

On the amp A and B are main and remote speakers. Meaning you could have two separate sets of speakers hooked up to the amp and be able to use A or B or A+B. The terminals on that amp can be used like they are in the photo which is to slot the wire and screw it in to secure it. You can also use banana plugs in which the cable can be secured to then plugged into the hole at the center of the red/black terminals on that particular amp. The important thing to remember is the wire coming from the amp to the speaker is like using jumper cables it should be red (+) to red (+) black (-) to black (-) and not crossed up. If for some reason a set of speakers doesn't have the red (+) and black (-) color which is common with earlier speakers they can either be marked with positive and negative symbols or it can be gnd or com for the black (-) and 8Ω for the positive (+) for example. As far as speaker wire they can come in a few variations in terms of marking which wire is what in terms of tracking which connection you're going to and from. The wires in the picture look like one is silver and one is copper in some cases with speaker wire where both are copper one wire will be marked with a white stripe on the insulation and the other will have no stripe.

Attached is an example of banana plugs.