I own a Nikko Beta II pre-amp and Alpha II amp for a few years. A friend of mine gave it to me because her family was going to throw them away. I'm so glad she got rid of them by giving them to me!!!
I've been surfing the web in order to get info about these hi-fi pieces. There's not much info on the internet, unfortunately. So I'm glad to hear there are some people who still hold these gadgets.
IMO, both play music very nicely. I still can't believe this stuff wasn't too expensive at the time, regarding the quality of construction and performance they deliver. I play records through a Pro-Ject Debut III, and my speakers are Heybrook Optima C (I can't find any info about these anywhere). My listening room is an average one, with lots of absorbing furniture and a thick carpet.
Alpha II: I love it has Bass and Treble controls, because every listening room is different, so are the quality of records and CDs. There's a Tape knob which is now very useful - I can connect my iPhone or my iPad and listed to music in a very decent quality. There's another small knob for cartridges and a Subsonic Filter which I've been told is good to keep your speakers safe. The Volume knob is pretty huge and has steps, which is a little bit annoying since I can't control accurately the amount of volume I want at a certain time. However, there's a -20dBs button which attenuates the sound, so I can control the volume better, but it seems the sound quality goes south a little bit.
Beta II: I found out its a true double-mono power amp, which is great, since it makes sure each channel goes through its way and doesn't interfere with the other channel. I think this is the key point of this amp. The VU meters are awesome, and there are a knob to select speakers (it can run a A+B, which I don't know whether you can set 2 pairs of speakers or you can bi-amp a pair only - Can anybody help me with this?). There are a couple of buttons for the VU, which reacts to wattage depending on the load and handling capacity of the speakers (I'm not sure about it either). After a while of use, the amp gets very warm, but I don't think it affects performance. I guess this is because of the transistors, which I don't know if they are MOS-FET. I don't know if this is a Class A/B amp.
I find the sound quite appealing and non-fatiguing - I can spend hours and hours of musical enjoyment listening to vinyls. CDs also sound very nice. It can deliver massive power to the speakers and the sound is still warm and sweet. I lack the air surrounding the musicians that you can find when listening to a high-end system, though. I miss some bass, but trebles and mids sound really sweet and hefty. It's not very holographic, but the music sounds somehow true.
I've been experiencing a couple of problems: sometimes there comes an annoying high-pitched noise (hiss?) that disappears after a while.
It would be great if anybody can help me with my doubts. And I hope I've been of help.
I've been surfing the web in order to get info about these hi-fi pieces. There's not much info on the internet, unfortunately. So I'm glad to hear there are some people who still hold these gadgets.
IMO, both play music very nicely. I still can't believe this stuff wasn't too expensive at the time, regarding the quality of construction and performance they deliver. I play records through a Pro-Ject Debut III, and my speakers are Heybrook Optima C (I can't find any info about these anywhere). My listening room is an average one, with lots of absorbing furniture and a thick carpet.
Alpha II: I love it has Bass and Treble controls, because every listening room is different, so are the quality of records and CDs. There's a Tape knob which is now very useful - I can connect my iPhone or my iPad and listed to music in a very decent quality. There's another small knob for cartridges and a Subsonic Filter which I've been told is good to keep your speakers safe. The Volume knob is pretty huge and has steps, which is a little bit annoying since I can't control accurately the amount of volume I want at a certain time. However, there's a -20dBs button which attenuates the sound, so I can control the volume better, but it seems the sound quality goes south a little bit.
Beta II: I found out its a true double-mono power amp, which is great, since it makes sure each channel goes through its way and doesn't interfere with the other channel. I think this is the key point of this amp. The VU meters are awesome, and there are a knob to select speakers (it can run a A+B, which I don't know whether you can set 2 pairs of speakers or you can bi-amp a pair only - Can anybody help me with this?). There are a couple of buttons for the VU, which reacts to wattage depending on the load and handling capacity of the speakers (I'm not sure about it either). After a while of use, the amp gets very warm, but I don't think it affects performance. I guess this is because of the transistors, which I don't know if they are MOS-FET. I don't know if this is a Class A/B amp.
I find the sound quite appealing and non-fatiguing - I can spend hours and hours of musical enjoyment listening to vinyls. CDs also sound very nice. It can deliver massive power to the speakers and the sound is still warm and sweet. I lack the air surrounding the musicians that you can find when listening to a high-end system, though. I miss some bass, but trebles and mids sound really sweet and hefty. It's not very holographic, but the music sounds somehow true.
I've been experiencing a couple of problems: sometimes there comes an annoying high-pitched noise (hiss?) that disappears after a while.
It would be great if anybody can help me with my doubts. And I hope I've been of help.