The Technical Stuff
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Teletronix LA-2
Engineer Sid Feldman purchased an LA-2 early on, and soon became involved in its distribution,
selling units to numerous broadcast and recording facilities in New York and Nashville. In 1962
Lawrence began to reconfigure the LA-2 into the LA-2A, at which time the device gained a
Limit/Compress switch in response to the newfound interest from the recording industry. With its
0 to 40 dB of gain limiting, a balanced stereo interconnection, flat frequency response of 0.1 dB from
30-15,000 Hz and a low noise level (better than 70 dB), the LA-2A quickly became
one of two industry
standard compressors (the other being Bill Putnam Sr.'s 1176)—both devices that continue to be
used extensively on recording sessions to this very day.
Teletronix became a division of Babcock Electronics Corp. in 1965. In 1967 Babcock's broadcast
division was acquired by Bill Putnam's company, Studio Electronics Corp., shortly before he changed
the company’s name to UREI®. Three different versions of the LA-2A were produced under the
auspices of these different companies before production was discontinued around 1969. However,
Putnam continued using the T4 optical detector for new designs, such as the solid-state LA-3A,
followed by the LA-4 and LA-5.
The companies that Putnam started—Universal Audio, Studio Electronics, and UREI—built products
that are still in regular use decades after their development. In 2000, Bill Putnam Sr. was awarded a
Technical Grammy for his multiple contributions to the recording industry. Highly regarded as a
recording engineer, studio designer/operator and inventor, Putnam was considered a favorite of
musical icons Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and many,
many more. The studios he designed and operated were known for their sound and his innovations
were a reflection of his desire to continually push the envelope. Universal Recording in Chicago, as
well as Ocean Way and Cello Studios (now EASTWEST) in Los Angeles all preserve elements of his room
designs.
In 1999, Putnam’s sons Bill Jr. and James Putnam re-launched Universal Audio. One of the company’s
first new products was a reissue of the LA-2A, designed to deliver complete authenticity, from its
handwired components to its carefully selected tubes and original spec componentry. In 2007,
Universal Audio released the 2-LA-2, designed by original UREI® engineer Dennis Fink. The 2-LA-2
retains the same key gain reduction components and simple controls found in the LA-2A, but adds the
modern convenience of a stereo-matched tool made more versatile for today’s studio. In addition, the
2-LA-2 has a much lower noise floor than its ancestor, allowing it to be used on low-output sources
with less risk of introducing undesirable hiss.
Traditionally, the LA-2A was used as a monophonic compressor. Although a stereo link connection was
provided on its rear panel terminal strip, it was nonetheless uncommon to gang two units together for
