Linn
Website:https://www.linn.co.uk/
Est. year: 1972
Location: UK
Linn Products is a Scottish hi-fi company formed in February 1973 by Ivor Tiefenbrun to sell the Sondek LP12 turntable, and today that turntable and its network music players are its main products. The firm is a private limited company with around 160 employees, based at a factory between Waterfoot and Eaglesham in East Renfrewshire. In 2007 its Klimax DS became the first Linn product to play 24-bit/192 kHz studio master files streamed over a home network.
Range & what it's known for
The LP12 has stayed in continuous production since 1973 and is offered in several build levels with upgradable bearings, power supplies and tonearms. On the digital side the range runs from Majik through Selekt to Klimax, covering streamers, integrated streaming amplifiers and DS network players. Linn stopped making CD players in November 2009 to concentrate on streaming. Its main engineering idea is Exakt, introduced in 2013, which keeps the 24-bit lossless signal digital all the way to the loudspeaker and converts to analogue at the latest possible stage, inside active Exakt speakers or electronics. The company also makes loudspeakers to go with these systems.
Who owns it and where it's made
Linn remains privately owned by the Tiefenbrun family. Ivor Tiefenbrun is Executive Chairman and his son Gilad Tiefenbrun has been Managing Director since 2009. The LP12 traces back to work by Hamish Robertson on the Ariston RD11, and the first turntables were made by Castle Precision Engineering. Design and manufacture take place at the East Renfrewshire headquarters, the only building in Scotland designed by the architect Richard Rogers.
The lineup in this catalog
Turntables, streamers and loudspeakers across several categories. The least expensive components cost about GBP 3,000, while Klimax systems go well beyond GBP 30,000.
Who it's for
Linn is designed as a long-term platform rather than a one-off purchase. Many owners begin with a Majik streaming system, Selekt adds modular upgrades, and Klimax sits at the top, while LP12 owners can step up bearings, supplies and arms over the years without replacing the deck. Choose Linn if you play both vinyl and lossless streams and want one maker to service and upgrade the whole chain.