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Underrated : Nikko TRM-600

N

nongrata

Member
You can not find that many info about the Nikko amps and besides the Alpha series they are not rated as top end.
Nikko made many parts for our beloved A brands and also did assembly for some of them.
Their products were sold in budget stores and were offered as value for money products.
Marketing was almost zero.
The TRM series however are a gems and the one I own (TRM-600) i think is quit amazing.
I own vintage Yamaha's, Luxmans, Sansuis, Denons and have owned Poineers, Sony and Rotel and several others.

So i own quite a lot (and also sold) vintage amps but the TRM-600 is one of the best sounding I have heard.
Open them up and you see they are very nicely build and easy to service.
They have lots of bass (turn the level down as otherwise it will be to boomy) but if adjusted the bass will sound very natural.
Mid en high are also great and recordings sound very natural.
There is also nice space between the instruments and however the amp has not the same level of the detail as some old yamaha's have the Nikko comes quite close.
However the most amazing is the sound field this TRM-600 can generate.
With some nice speakers the Nikko TRM-600 is able to display a depth in the sound that is fantastic.
This is what makes the amp so outstanding, if you close you eyes you would swear the performers are in your room.
The amp is also capable of playing all genres of music beautifully.
Yamaha is wonderful if you listen to jazz, classical or acoustic music but when you listen to rock is sounds rather sterile.
The Nikko can handle all styles, a string quartet or a rock band, it all sound perfect.
If you use the headphone output it is also a delight to listen too.
Just wantend to pay some respect for this Nikko that in my opinion beats many high praised vintage amps and I think is one of the most underrated amp around.
 
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My 1st and still favorite amp:
nikko-na-550-02.jpg
 
I had a TRM-800 and liked it a lot. Lost it due to unfortunate events a number of years ago. Would like to have another one day.
 
One of my favorites is Nikko TRM-1200MS. The only early 1970s amp I have with a button that switches off tone controls. A good thing, too, it has noisy transistors in the tone amp, so switching it off is a huge improvement.
 
That NA-550 up their ^ was my first real amp, and 2nd in line never to be sold. My PS-X800 TT is in the first spot never to be sold. I would not have the Mac/APT in my sig if the little Nikko did not run out of steam to soon. 55 W vs 480 W.
 
My father-in-law had a NA-890 and that thing sounds amazing hooked up to a couple of AR M4's. He died 3 years ago. Lately I've been trying to talk my MIL out of it but she's not ready to let go yet.
 
Wigwam Jones said:
I had a TRM-800 and liked it a lot. Lost it due to unfortunate events a number of years ago. Would like to have another one day.
Click to expand...

As a young boy I had the TRM-230.
This entry level model of the TRM series sounded great and however low powered,
it blew my dad's (then very expensive) high end model from Philips out
of the water.
If I find the TRM-800 and the price is acceptable I for sure add it to my collection.
 
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I was given a Nikko system that had set around for a good 15 years. It is an Alpha 220 power amp, Beta 20 preamp and a pair of JBL 4411's. One of the 4411's had a blown woofer that was replaced with an EV12L. The Beta 20 had very dirty controls and was dead in one channel because of the controls. I found another original JBL 128 woofer and cleaned up the Beta 20 and now the system is as it was in around 1980. It sounds quite amazing. I had never heard of Nikko before. But I can say that this stuff sounds great. I have a lot of tube audio and to be frank, the Nikko system is as pleasant to listen to as the tube stuff and does not induce ear fatigue like a lot of solid state gear does. This stuff is really under rated by the vintage audio guys.
 
Hello,

I've got a nice little TRM-600. I really like it, simple but well built and great looks. Someone before me cut some wires though and pulled out the mic amp.
The mic amp doesn't really matter but the tape outputs are also disconnected and there is a little connector on the bottom of the preamp board with two caps on it coming from the emitter of the first transistor from each channel of the preamp stage (not the riaa circuit). 2 wires used to leave than from those caps and go to... ?
 
Never viewed this thread before, but I chose my username based on an item from this brand.

I have one of their receivers and the sound is warm, the bass is deep and powerful, everything sounds great on it. The designers seemed to understand the 70Hz and 10kHz tone control turnover frequencies made far more sense for larger speakers than the usual ones seen that seemed to be targeting bookshelf speakers. Centre frequencies are about to 30Hz and 20kHz. The treble curve is a bit more gradual, while the bass curve keeps out of the midrange pretty well.

All the detail is there, but it’s not aggressive in the listener’s face nor dead-accurate like higher lines of gear from Yamaha. There is a small compressor effect in the preamp at any level. I love it for TV and video games, it sounds huge and lifelike without any boom or mud.

There are a few small safety concerns on some models. The offset and bias potentiometers have no safety connection in case the wipers ever lose connection. The amp stage in the TRM-500, 600, and several STA line of receivers have basically the same amp and preamp boards and different transformers. The main circuitry difference is the location of the preamp supply regulator and two transistors driving each power amp output stage.

It’s a strange oversight perhaps, but it was a different time. If the offset pot’s wiper loses continuity the output will go full DC. If the bias wiper ever loses connection, the bias pot turns off while the output stage does the opposite, it would fully turn on and burn up. In later models, Nikko started putting a short circuit connection on the board to the positive side of the bias potentiometer. This turns the bias transistor on and thus turn “off” the drivers and outputs, in the event of a pot failure. Most of the time the bias pot was 1000 Ohms, so even a 1000 - 4700 Ohm resistor (or determine value based on your amp’s needs) from the pot’s wiper output leg to the positive side leg can prevent a meltdown.
 
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nongrata said:
You can not find that many info about the Nikko amps and besides the Alpha series they are not rated as top end.
Nikko made many parts for our beloved A brands and also did assembly for some of them.
Their products were sold in budget stores and were offered as value for money products.
Marketing was almost zero.
The TRM series however are a gems and the one I own (TRM-600) i think is quit amazing.
I own vintage Yamaha's, Luxmans, Sansuis, Denons and have owned Poineers, Sony and Rotel and several others.

So i own quite a lot (and also sold) vintage amps but the TRM-600 is one of the best sounding I have heard.
Open them up and you see they are very nicely build and easy to service.
They have lots of bass (turn the level down as otherwise it will be to boomy) but if adjusted the bass will sound very natural.
Mid en high are also great and recordings sound very natural.
There is also nice space between the instruments and however the amp has not the same level of the detail as some old yamaha's have the Nikko comes quite close.
However the most amazing is the sound field this TRM-600 can generate.
With some nice speakers the Nikko TRM-600 is able to display a depth in the sound that is fantastic.
This is what makes the amp so outstanding, if you close you eyes you would swear the performers are in your room.
The amp is also capable of playing all genres of music beautifully.
Yamaha is wonderful if you listen to jazz, classical or acoustic music but when you listen to rock is sounds rather sterile.
The Nikko can handle all styles, a string quartet or a rock band, it all sound perfect.
If you use the headphone output it is also a delight to listen too.
Just wantend to pay some respect for this Nikko that in my opinion beats many high praised vintage amps and I think is one of the most underrated amp around.
Click to expand...
YES, I own the Nikko trm 750, I have always said its a great amp, although some sites will cut it down. I have my amp paired with C note speakers from Parts Express, I think it sounds fantastic. THANKS for telling it like it is, Nikko TRM's are great.
 
90 days said:
YES, I own the Nikko trm 750, I have always said its a great amp, although some sites will cut it down. I have my amp paired with C note speakers from Parts Express, I think it sounds fantastic. THANKS for telling it like it is, Nikko TRM's are great.
Click to expand...
the cnotes weren't a bad deal when you could get them for a cnote!

i used my na2090 with them for awhile.
 
I had a Nikko TRM-1200 years ago, and I really liked it. It had a style that was unique, and it sounded quite good. Definitely worth looking out for, and they are still under-rated.
 
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