By today's standards, the Teletronix LA-2A Leveling Amplifier from Universal Audio appears to be a rather primitive compression device. It has only two rotary controls, one for Gain and one for Peak Reduction. However, behind this plain facade lies a unique electro-optical attenuator system that allows for instantaneous gain reduction with no increase in harmonic distortion.
A tube-based compressor, the original LA-2A featured handwired components and an electro-luminescent optical gain reduction device that provided the fast attack necessary for broadcast applications. Additionally, the cadmium-sulfide photo-cells provided a very natural two-stage release which resulted in a compression characteristic more transparent than the other compressors of its day. To this day, the LA-2A delivers a trademark sound treasured by engineers worldwide.
Painstaking care has been taken to ensure that every new Teletronix LA-2A Leveling Amplifier provides the performance and characteristics of the original. Each unit is handbuilt and each component carefully evaluated for authenticity.