Inward Connections, based in California and headed by designer Steve Firlotte, have been producing vacuum‑tube signal processors since 1987, and an earlier version of their limiter was available over a decade ago as part of the VacRac modular system comprising mic preamp, EQ and limiter. At 3U high, with classy dark‑brown bodywork, a pair of huge three‑inch 'retro' VU meters, two pairs of large steel switches, and two pairs of large Bakelite brown control knobs, the TSL3 makes a strong and attractive visual statement, and it drew admiring looks and comment from every visitor to the facility while it was in my rack. As the existence of just two pairs of control knobs — one pair labelled 'Reduction', the other 'Gain Makeup' — indicate, the user‑controlled variables for this limiter are very limited, which at least makes operation exceedingly simple. As there are no threshold or time‑constant controls, you simply turn one knob to bring the limiter to bear on the signal, and you turn the other to make up the lost gain, and beyond. One pair of switches sets the VU meters to display either the line output level or the amount of gain reduction being instigated. The other pair bypasses the limiting circuitry though, alas, not the gain make-up amplifier, nor the gain controls, making A/B of the processed and unprocessed signals rather difficult and there is a single 'Link' switch which makes the TSL3 operate in stereo rather than dual‑mono mode.
