Sony TAE-20FB Falcon preamplifier, bronze-anodised front panel with tone, balance and volume controls, in front of the Radique Audio sign

Sony TAE-20FB preamplifier angled from the left, showing the slim chiselled aluminium case and lit indicators

Sony TAE-20FB preamplifier from the right side, slim bronze case on a lace-covered table

Sony

Sony TAE-20FB Falcon Preamplifier — Bronze, MM/MC Phono, Japan

Name: Sony TAE-20FB Falcon Preamplifier — Bronze, MM/MC Phono, Japan
Brand: Sony
SKU: 17569
Price: 345.00 CAD
Availability: InStock

$345.00

Consignment piece. We sell it on behalf of its owner, and it's covered exactly like everything else we sell: inspected and serviced as required, and backed by our Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and Perpetual Trade-Back Program. The one difference: it isn't eligible for Cue It Up layaway.

The control amplifier from Sony’s short-lived Falcon range — made in Japan for barely two years and rarely seen on this side of the Pacific. Bronze-anodised aluminium case, a real moving-coil phono input alongside moving-magnet, and a signal path that has been freshly recapped. A couple of light marks on the casework, otherwise Very Good. Ships from Kanata, ON.

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Description

Sony TAE-20FB Falcon — A Two-Year Sony Range, a Genuine Moving-Coil Phono Stage, and a Fresh Recap

A rare and unusually well-built compact preamplifier from a Sony system almost nobody remembers — bronze-anodised, made in Japan, with a genuine moving-coil phono stage and a freshly recapped signal path.

The Falcon System

In 1977 Sony began leasing Dassault Falcon business jets, and marked the occasion by naming a hi-fi range after them. The Falcon system arrived in October 1978 and was gone by 1980 — full rack width but strikingly slim, finished to a standard well above what the market expected at the size, and priced accordingly. It never found the audience Sony planned for it, which is precisely why so few survive.

The Moving-Coil Phono Stage

The TAE-20FB is the control amplifier from that range, and the reason to want one is the phono stage. It accepts moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridges directly, at 2.5 mV and 0.25 mV sensitivity respectively — a moving-coil input was not a given on a full-size preamplifier in 1979, let alone on a slim one, and Sony designed its own VC-20 moving-coil cartridge to sit in front of it. Adding an equivalent standalone MC stage to a system today costs real money. Alongside phono there are tuner and auxiliary inputs, bass and treble controls, a loudness contour, a low filter, stereo, mono and channel-reverse modes, and a headphone output. Line-stage signal-to-noise is quoted at 95 dB, distortion at 0.01 percent, and frequency response runs from 10 Hz to 100 kHz.

The Case and the Bronze Finish

What you notice first, though, is the case. The top and front are a single thick slab of anodised aluminium, chiselled rather than folded, and it has aged in a way that the plastic-fronted competition of the period simply has not. This is the FB — the bronze-anodised version, the warmer of the two export finishes and the one that looks least like everything else built in 1979. Sony made the Falcon components in an almost absurd number of variants, differing in finish, in scripting, and in some cases in circuit and in factory, and made them for barely two years. They are genuinely scarce, and rarely seen in North America.

Condition and Service

This example has been fully recapped and presents in Very Good cosmetic condition. There are a couple of very light scratches on the casework, which we would rather you heard from us than found yourself — a single slab of anodised aluminium hides nothing, and a component in service since 1979 without a mark on it would be a suspicious object. In proportion they are minor and it still looks excellent. It has been thoroughly inspected and tested to confirm full functionality.

A scarce and beautifully made piece of Sony engineering from a range that lasted two years, made in Japan, in the bronze finish, carrying a moving-coil phono stage most preamplifiers of any era don’t have.

Available for pickup in Kanata, or shipped across Canada and internationally — we have sent equipment to fifteen countries in the past year, each piece packed in-house in 275 lb test double-wall boxes. Live shipping rates for your address are calculated at checkout. Backed by Radique Audio’s Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and our Perpetual Trade-Back Program. Available for audition by appointment in Kanata.

Sony TAE-20FB Falcon Specifications

Design: Solid-state stereo control amplifier
Inputs: Phono (MM and MC), tuner, auxiliary
Phono input sensitivity: 0.25 mV (MC), 2.5 mV (MM)
Line input sensitivity: 150 mV
Signal-to-noise ratio: 70 dB (MC), 85 dB (MM), 95 dB (line)
Frequency response: 10 Hz to 100 kHz
Total harmonic distortion: 0.01%
Output: 150 mV (line), 1 V (pre out), 15 V (pre out maximum)
Controls: Volume, bass, treble, loudness, low filter, mode selector (stereo / mono / reverse), headphone output
Outputs: Standard line-level pre out, 1 V nominal — drives any power amplifier
Finish: Bronze anodised aluminium
Year of introduction: 1979
Country of manufacture: Japan
Dimensions: (Width x Height x Depth) 16.9 x 2.75 x 6.3 inches (430 x 70 x 160 mm)
Weight: 6 lbs (2.7 kg)

⚠️ Important Information for International Buyers

This unit is configured for North American 110/120V power. Buyers outside North America will require a step-down transformer and appropriate plug adapter.

✅ Buy With Confidence — The Radique Promise

Backed by Radique Audio’s Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and our Perpetual Trade-Back Program. When you’re ready to move on, we’ll take it back. That’s the Radique difference.

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$345.00

Additional information

Weight	8 lbs
Dimensions	10.3 × 20.9 × 6.75 in

About brand

Sony at Radique

We service Sony, too. Bring us your own Sony receivers, amplifiers, tuners, CD players and cassette decks, Walkman-size players included for repair, servicing or restoration (not reel-to-reel decks), with a 90-day warranty on the work. See our Audio Service page

Sony began in Tokyo in 1946, founded by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita, and it helped bring the world the Walkman and the compact disc. We carry Sony stereo and AV receivers, CD players, cassette decks, amplifiers and speakers. We've had more than 220 Sony listings so far, covering more than 185 different models. Every used Sony here is inspected, tested and serviced as required, then photographed in-house and covered by our Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and Perpetual Trade-Back Program. Don't see the model you want? Tell us on First Dibs and we'll email you when one arrives.

Sony models we've sold more than once include the TC-K61 cassette deck, the CDP-CE305 and CDP-C335 CD players, the STR-DA5700ES AV receiver and the STR-4800SD stereo receiver.

The Sony story, 1946 to today

Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita founded Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo ("Totsuko") in Tokyo in 1946, growing out of a radio repair business Ibuka had started the year before. The company was renamed Sony in 1958.

Tape and transistors. The G-model tape recorder of 1950 is described as Japan's first, and the TR-55 transistor radio of 1955 was the first Sony-branded product.

ES. Sony describes the TA-1120 integrated amplifier of 1965 as the first all-silicon-transistor stereo amplifier and dates its ES ("Elevated Standard") line from it.

Walkman and CD. The Walkman went on sale in Japan in July 1979. Sony worked with Philips on the compact disc, and Sony's CDP-101 was among the first CD players on sale in Japan in October 1982. Sony still makes ES AV receivers.

Which Sony is which?

STR receivers: stereo receivers from the late 1960s on, such as the STR-6120, and later AV receivers, including ES models.

TA amplifiers and ES separates: from the TA-1120 to the TA-E86 preamplifier and TA-N86 power amplifier (1978).

CDP CD players: from the CDP-101 (1982) and CDP-701ES (1983) to changers such as the CDP-CE305 and CDP-C335 we sell often.

TC tape decks: reel-to-reel recorders until 1985, and cassette decks such as the TC-K61 and the three-head TC-K777ES.

SS speakers: such as the SS-G7 floorstanders of 1978.

Buying used Sony: what to check

CD players. Open and close the drawer several times; hesitation can be an early sign of trouble. Laser pickups wear, skipping is a symptom, and tray belts age.

Cassette decks. Belts dry out and cause slipping or uneven playback, and worn heads dull the sound. Run fast-forward and rewind, and check Dolby.

Amplifiers and receivers. Noisy switches and dirty relay contacts cause many faults, and bias settings drift with age. On tuners, look for blown bulbs and broken dial cords.

Everything we list is inspected, tested and serviced as required here, and comes with our warranty.