Linn Products

Linn Products is an engineering company that manufactures hi-fi and audio equipment. Founded by Ivor Tiefenbrun in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1972, the company is best known as the manufacturer of the Linn Sondek LP12 turntable.

From 2007 Linn was one of the first audio manufacturers to introduce digital music streaming using the home network and Internet. This has become the focus of the company's strategy leading to audio systems to support digital music playback of 24bit/192 kHz studio master quality recordings using a digital stream over a home network.

Linn Records was the first to sell DRM-free 24-bit studio master quality tracks downloaded over the internet.

This network approach was extended in 2013 with the introduction of the Linn Exakt technology to retain the 24-bit lossless signal in the digital domain to the active crossover.

In late 2014 Linn announced the integration of TIDAL's lossless music streaming service into Linn DS digital players enabling access to over 25 million audio tracks at CD-quality over the Internet.

Originally based in the Castlemilk suburb of south Glasgow (opposite Linn Park), it is now based just outside the city, between Waterfoot and Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire. The factory is the only building in Scotland designed by the architect Richard Rogers.[2]

Company history

Partnerships

During much of the 1970s and 1980s, Linn adopted a tight working relationship with Naim Audio. It all started in about 1974 when Linn was looking for suitable amplifiers to drive their Isobarik loudspeaker and came across Vereker's NAP 200.[18] Their product ranges were complementary, and their names were often mentioned together. Linn focused on the electromechanical parts while Naim worked exclusively on the electronics. During this time, the Linn/Naim system was a preferred combination for many audiophiles. The two companies advocated a 'source-first' philosophy based on the same principle as garbage in, garbage out[19] – that an amplifier that correctly performed its role would only faithfully amplify a signal, but that all things being equal, a superior source component would allow the recorded music to better connect with the listener on an emotive level. It followed that a superior source signal paired with lesser amplification would sound better than an inferior source through high-quality amplification and speakers.[20][21] This flew in the face of conventional wisdom that had been made prevalent by Edgar Villchur.

Awards and recognition

• Ivor Tiefenbrun was awarded the MBE by HM Queen Elizabeth II in for "his and his company's engineering achievements and outstanding service to the electronics industry."
• As of 1 January 2002, Linn Products Ltd has been awarded The Royal Warrant of Appointment as a Tradesman to His Royal Highness, Charles, Prince of Wales, as a provider of Entertainment Systems.
• Linn was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation in 2012.[23]

Products and trademarks

Linn have a number of trademarks for their products, many of which have the characteristic "k" in place of a hard "c". Ivor Tiefenbrun has stated that the name of the “Sondek” turntable, the company’s first product, is a contraction of 'sound deck', emphasising the (at the time) revolutionary concept that the turntable, the “deck”, was primarily responsible for sound quality, with each following component successively less important. The use of the single “k” in their product naming stuck, as it gave them a slightly mystical touch.[24] Several of the names have Scottish origins, e.g. Kairn, Keltik, Ekos, Keilidh (cairn, Celtic, Ecosse, Ceilidh), some have relevance to the function they perform e.g. Knekt (a system to connect many rooms together) or Klout (a powerful amplifier), more recently some names are derived from descriptives of quality (Exakt, Klimax, Akurate, Dynamik, Kandid). Some products have had relatively simple names, such as the Index loudspeaker.

See also

• List of phonograph manufacturers
• The Linn Rekursiv computer processor

External links

• Linn Products