TL Audio Ebony A2 Tube Stereo Processor

Discrete Class A preamp/DI with an adjustable tube output section in a sleek package.

The Ebony A2 Tube Stereo Processor is a sleek-looking discrete Class A processor designed to heighten your audio experience. It uses Discrete Class A circuitry and has an optional tube stage with variable drive putting you in control of how creamy or how cool your unit sounds.

Hand assembled in England to the highest standards, the Ebony uses stylish, quality chrome knobs together with a high-gloss black finish to make the exterior look just as smooth as the circuits sound. The Ebony Series have all the features you come to expect with TL Audio, including balanced I/O, multi input options, analogue VU metering and intuitive, precise controls. All Ebony A2 units are also compatible with the TL Audio DO-2 digital SPDIF interface for easy digital connectivity with high quality conversion.
A combination of supreme quality, unrivalled sound, and stylish aesthetics: This range offers superior analog processing to accompany a digital world.

Why Class-A?
Class A circuits are designed with constant current flowing through all of the transistors, which is sufficient to drive the peak output required from each block of the circuit. This ensures that every transistor is kept at its optimum operating point, minimizing nonlinearities due to changes in current and internal thermal effects, and eliminating the objectionable “cross-over” distortion typical of class AB circuits.

Due to the higher steady state (or “quiescent”) currents used, the power dissipation of class A circuits is substantially higher than can generally be handled by integrated circuits. It is also possible to design discrete transistor circuits to operate at higher voltage rails than are available for audio integrated circuits, adding the benefit of greater headroom and improved dynamic range. For these reasons, there are no integrated circuits in the audio paths of the Ebony Series.

The outstanding audio quality is reflected in the technical specification of the A2 stereo processor, with particularly low noise and distortion, and wide frequency response.

About TL Audio
TL Audio began manufacturing audio products in 1990, when the company – founded by Tony Larking – was largely involved in the restoration and reselling of vintage equipment such as Neve and Trident recording consoles. The first TL Audio products were original Neve EQ modules, which were taken principally from broadcast consoles and repackaged to make them suitable for music production studios. A little later, Tony Larking joined forces with David Kempson, a leading designer at Neve for nine years.

By 1993 the demand for used valve outboard equipment had become very strong but most models such as the original Pultec and Fairchild valve devices were already extremely rare and expensive. There appeared an obvious gap in the market for brand new affordable valve products and the result was TL Audio’s first valve product – the EQ-1 Dual Valve Equalizer. This product revolutionized the studio market by offering reliable, flexible, great sounding valve processing that was within the budget of most studios. The EQ-1 quickly attracted the interest of mainstream engineer/producers, with the first two production models going to Roy Thomas Baker (who had produced many of Queen and Foreigner’s early recordings) and Chris Porter (who was working with George Michael and Take That).

The EQ-1 was the first of what became known as the ‘Classic’ range, and was followed by what has become possibly TL Audio’s best known product – the C-1 Dual Valve Compressor, which shot to stardom as Chris Fogel’s mixdown compressor on Alanis Morissette’s multi-million selling Jagged Little Pill album.

Today, TL Audio has become one of the most respected names currently manufacturing Pro Audio equipment. According to designer David Kempson, “Our hybrid design approach was not chosen to cut costs: we created it because we genuinely believe it is a better way of producing valve processors. It makes them consistent, reliable, quiet, and – best of all – it means that by gearing ourselves up for large-scale production we can make the products affordable as well. Every studio deserves to benefit from the advantages of valve signal processing – with our products, we make that possible.”

TL Audio — Plug in the real thing.