# MENTESH2A ships v1.0 — measurement-anchored opto leveler from a one-engineer Tel Aviv studio

**For immediate release — Tel Aviv, 2026**

Mentesh Engineering today released **MENTESH2A v1.0**, an optical
compression system captured from a and captured from a specific
2014 UA LA-2A reissue, tube-rolled to NOS RCA acquired and tube-rolled by the
company itself. The release marks the launch of a new audio-plugin
brand built on a single operating principle: **every claim about a
plugin's behaviour must trace to a measurement of physical hardware
the company owns.**

## The reference unit

The hardware behind MENTESH2A is a 2014 UA Teletronix LA-2A reissue (1960s Lawrence Silver-era circuit) selected and
prepared by the company over a sustained tube-rolling and
component-audit process. The current configuration:

- **NOS RCA Black-Plate 12AX7** in V1 (input voltage amp) and V3
  (sidechain voltage amp)
- **NOS RCA 12BH7 Grey-Plate** in V2 (cathode follower / driver)
- Tubes from Fuzz Audio order #2809, January 2025 — receipts archived
- **Stock UA components everywhere else**: T4B optocell, Sowter 8940
  output transformer, UTC A-11 input transformer, V4 6AQ5 EL panel
  driver, factory bias and operating point — all UA-supplied with the
  2014 reissue
- Full operating-point sweep documented (not changed), archived as
  part of v1.0 capture documentation

This unit — not a generic LA-2A, not "an LA-2A" in the abstract — is
what MENTESH2A models. Five faceplate finishes in the plugin
correspond to five distinct DSP profiles (different attack/release
constants and program-dependent EQ tilts), each anchored to a
measured operating regime of the hardware.

## The capture methodology

MENTESH2A was captured at **96 kHz / 24-bit** against a level-matched
dry reference, with eleven Peak Reduction points (0, 10, 20, 30, 40,
50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100) sampled across three program sources (vocal,
bass, drum bus). The plugin and the hardware were captured the same
day from the same dry source through the same I/O chain, with
loopback verification at PR=0 (bit-identical between the unit's
loopback path and the plugin's PR=0 output).

Measured behaviour:

- **Attack — fast regime:** 7.1–10.4 ms (vocal source, PR≥40)
- **Attack — mid regime:** 28–34 ms (drum bus, PR 20–60)
- **Release:** dual-stage, programme-dependent (50–800 ms first stage,
  1.5–4 s second stage)
- **R² fit (PR-curve):** 0.85–0.97 across all three sources
- **Gain reduction:** up to 40 dB, with the T4B's characteristic
  sub-linear slope above 25 dB GR

The full null-test pack — 33 captured pairs, level-matched and
documented — ships publicly with v1.0 and is browsable at
**me-plugins.com/mentesh2a/listen**.

## The integrity contract

The brand voice is deliberately measurement-anchored. The marketing
copy bans the words *warmth*, *buttery*, *magic*, *mojo*, and
*analog character*. Every adjective in the product copy must reduce
to a number or a specific physical artefact. There are no decompiled
references, no AI-fitted curves, no claims of behaviour that can't be
demonstrated against the hardware on a meter.

"It's the kind of thing that's easy to get wrong and impossible to
fake," says founder Guy Mentesh. "If we can't measure it, we don't
claim it. And if we can measure it, we publish the receipts."

## Pricing, formats, and availability

MENTESH2A is **$129 USD** for the first 100 customers (early-bird) and
**$149 USD** thereafter. Licensing is two-machine, with free updates
within v1.x. There's a 14-day, no-questions refund policy and a 14-day
free trial with no checkout required.

**Formats at v1.0:** VST3 and AU on macOS Universal (Apple Silicon
native + Intel) and Windows x64.

**Not in v1.0:** AAX, iOS / AUv3, CLAP, and Linux. Those formats are
on the roadmap; MENTESH2A v1.0 ships with the formats Mentesh
Engineering can stand behind today.

## The roadmap

MENTESH2A is the keystone of an opto-leveler-plus-rack roadmap:

- **MENTESH1176** — FET limiter, captured from a hardware reference
  unit currently in audit
- **MENTESH560** — graphic EQ, captured from a 1979 unit
- **MENTESH·SAT** — multiband parallel saturation, derived from the
  same brand-DSP work as MENTESH2A's tube-chain modelling

The cadence is quarterly. Each release follows the same capture-first
methodology and ships with its own null-test pack.

## About Mentesh Engineering

Mentesh Engineering is an independent audio-plugin studio founded in
2026 by Guy Mentesh, a Tel Aviv-based engineer and producer with 14
years of operational experience on hardware compressors, EQs, and
analog signal paths. The legal entity is GUY MENTESH LTD
(ח.פ. 517332896), headquartered in Israel.

This product is not affiliated with or endorsed by Universal Audio,
Inc. or any other manufacturer. "LA-2A", "Teletronix", and
"Universal Audio" are trademarks of Universal Audio, Inc., used here
solely for nominative reference under fair-use doctrine to identify
the hardware reference unit modelled by the plugin.

## Press contacts

```
Press inquiries / interviews        press@me-plugins.com
Review copies (NFR keys)            press@me-plugins.com
Engineering / methodology Q&A       hello@me-plugins.com
Beta / bug reports                  beta-feedback@me-plugins.com
```

**Web:** me-plugins.com
**Product page:** me-plugins.com/mentesh2a
**A/B null pack:** me-plugins.com/mentesh2a/listen
**Engineering / receipts:** me-plugins.com/engineering

— ENDS —
