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

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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