Teac GE-20
A rack-mountable two-channel ten-band graphic equalizer that Teac aimed squarely at the multitrack studio crowd.
Overview
The GE-20 is a two-channel, ten-band graphic equalizer built for rack mounting and pitched at multitrack recording work — the kind of box that sat in a home or project studio rack between the tape machine and the monitors. Each channel carries ten bands of EQ, one octave per band, and the two channels are entirely independent of one another, with individual bypass so a single side can be pulled out of the signal path without disturbing the other. That independence matters in a tracking-and-mixdown setup where one channel might be taming a boomy kick while the other is brightening a vocal.
The band centers are spaced an octave apart: 31.5, 63, 125, 250, and 500 Hz, then 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 kHz. Maximum boost or cut is 12 dB per band. Teac's published specifications for the unit list a frequency response of 20 to 30,000 Hz, ±0.5 dB, THD of 0.03 percent, and an S/N ratio of 85 dB. Input level is -10 dB (0.3V) unbalanced, input impedance is greater than 100,000 ohms unbalanced, and headroom is quoted at 28 dB. There is a high-pass filter at 31.5 Hz and a low-pass filter at 16 Hz, both at 12 dB/octave — the high filter is described as initiable after equalization is complete, which lets the user shape the sound first and then trim the extremes.
Around the front panel, the GE-20 provides input LEDs, input level controls, and output level controls, plus a switchable meter intended to keep the next device in the chain from being overloaded. Teac notes that the circuit uses operational amplifiers rather than coils, a design choice made to reduce RF and hum interference — a meaningful detail in a studio full of tape machines, consoles, and lighting dimmers.
Period advertising placed the GE-20 alongside Teac's other "sound processors," including the Model 2A Mixer and the MB-20 Meter Bridge. The copy in that campaign framed the equalizer's role plainly: the two channels are totally independent and can be bypassed individually, with ten bands of EQ per channel at one octave per band. HiFi-Stereo (December 1978, p.77) ran that same Teac processor spread, and Recording Engineer (December 1978, p.48) carried it as well — the GE-20 was being marketed to the recording crowd through the trade press, not just the hi-fi channels.
The GE-20 turns up in contemporary studio package listings too. One dealer bundle paired a Tascam 32 two-track with a GE-20, a pair of E.V. Sentry 100 monitors, a Bi-Amp MR-140 reverb, a DBX 164 stereo limiter, and a Fostex 3050 digital delay as a complete mixdown rig — which tells you how the equalizer was positioned: as the tone-shaping piece in a small-format mastering chain, not a standalone audiophile curiosity. Another listing placed the GE-20 among equalizer options next to the MXR stereo 15-band and 31-band graphics and the Audio Design Scamp sweep and octave units, a reminder that the late-'70s graphic-EQ market was crowded and the Teac competed on features and rack integration rather than exotic circuitry.
Collectors and studio tinkerers chasing a period-correct multitrack rack will find the GE-20 a sensible period piece — two independent channels, octave-spaced bands, unbalanced input/output level control, and filters that make it usable as a tracking tool rather than just a tone toy.
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