Linn. It hardly needs an introduction, but this is the part of the article traditionally reserved for such things… so I’d best adhere to it. Linn are a legendary high-end hi-fi audio company, who have one mission in life: to make everything sound better. We’ve been a proud official retailer since 2014, and the more time we spend with Linn’s glorious systems, Sondeks, speakers and separates, the more we grow to love them.
… and we loved them long before we retailed them!
Now, we’ve already gone into Linn’s current hierarchy of music systems (including the separates within) on this blog here, so we have decided to do something new. Or, rather, old! Linn’s history is long (very long!) and lustrous, so let’s delve a little deeper and give you our own version of the brand history, as well as a bit of origin behind some of their best known (and most loved!) models along the way.
Let’s begin with how it all began…
Early Days
It all began with what still remains the most iconic product in Linn’s history, and arguably one of he most iconic items in hi-fi history. Whether you’re into your analogue, or no, you have probably heard of the…
… the Sondek LP12! It all began with that very turntable back in 1973, in Glasgow Scotland. Linn’s founder, Ivor Tiefenbrun had just invested in a brand new hi-fi system (brand unknown!) and was unsatisfied with the sound. At the time he was working as an engineer for his father’s company Castle Precision Engineering Ltd., so he decided to take advantage of the resources there to build something that he would be satisfied with.
You probably know where we’re going with this, see as the Sondek is still a model in circulation today, so let’s get straight to it, the first and quite potentially the most popular thing on the menu…
Linn Turntables
Linn turntables begin and end with one extremely decent unit: the Sondek. It began its journey in 1973. and it’s still considered one of the finest turntables money can buy, to this very day. Little things have changed for the LP12 along the way, and there are plenty of variations of those little changes, but the foundation and the main components are much the same now as they were in 1973. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Right?
What made (and still makes!) the LP12 different was the fact that its sub-chassis is suspended, offering a greater level of isolation as a result, this and the single-point platter bearing have made the Sondek virtually timeless. Yes, there are plenty of upgrades and tweaks that can be made and nought along the way (including several partnerships with the likes of Naim, Grace and Sumiko, among others, which created upgrades and kits specifically for use with LP12s), the Lp12 is pretty much the same as it was back then… if not maybe a tiny bit better.
Other notable Linn turntables that surfaced throughput the years include in 1990’s Linn Basik (a budget variation of the LP12) and the various Linns-own tone arms (such as Ittok, Ekos and Akito – the ‘budget’) and cartridges (both MC and MM) – although the vast majority of upgrades and developments have come from outside partnership (yet another thing that makes Linn great: they’re not afraid to play with others!)
Linn Speakers
In 1975, the success of the LP12 was unquestionable. So, there was only one sure-fire way to go – make some speakers to match! The Isobarik DMS (domestic monitoring system) was the first loudspeaker of its kind, seeing as it featured the newly patented isobaric loading principle, which allowed for a cleaner, lower-distortion and extended low frequency response from a much smaller speaker cabinet than would usually produce such a clear, detailed and large sound.
The Isobarik SARA (Small Acoustic Reproduction Apparatus – but also named after Ivor Tiefenbrun’s baby daughter who was small, but could make a lot of noise!) came shortly after that in 1978, but following on from that it was a little while before anything significant emerged in the ‘loudspeaker’ category… well, until relatively ‘modern’ days, that is!)
Linn Separates
Once Linn had established themselves fully, their philosophies began to develop too. They began operating under the principle of ‘garbage in, garbage out’ which means that there can’t be a weak link in the chain when it comes to your hi-fi system. Which meant they began to develop a greater range of products in order to get a complete grip on the sound, from source to speaker.
This process began in 1981 with the Linnk – a Moving Coil phonostage, designed to work with the LP12. Following on from that in 1985 the LK1 pre-amplifier and LK2 power-amplifier were introduced. 1997 saw the first Linn separates phono MC preamp: the Linto (… are you enjoying Linn’s naming policies as much as we are? It’s been going from pretty much since day one!)
Linn CD Players
It took 11 years for Linn to catch up with the Compact Disc market, but once it did, the results were pretty spectacular! 1992 saw the Karik launched, which was to be Linn’s flagship for many years to follow. This was also a CD combined with a DAC, to get around any problems that may have been caused by this new(ish!) format.
But it was the Sondek CD12 4D Transcription compact disc player which stole the limelight from the more pleasing Karik. It went on many design awards even before launch, owed to its use of satin-finished machined Aluminium solid ingots for casing. Yes, Linn were aesthetic trendsetters too!
Linns love of the Cd came to an end in 2009, when their newfound love of streaming systems took over.
Linn AV
Not content with keeping it strictly audio-only, Linn began their assault on the AV market in 1999 with the launch of the AV51 system. This coupled with the earlier launch of the Knekt multi-room system in 1994 would go on to predict Linn’s movements into the lifestyle market in the future.
Linn Today
Linn went through several decades of honing pretty much every major food-group within the hi-fi realm, and they knew exactly what to do with that accumulated knowledge.
“In 2007, Linn launched its first Linn DS network music player, the Klimax DS, taking as its input a digital stream over a home network rather than from a physical disc. This was its first product to support the playback of studio master quality recordings natively in up to 24bit resolution and 192kHz sampling frequency, significantly exceeding the specifications of the older Audio CD format (16bit / 44.1kHz).” Linn
This was quite possibly the most important Linn-release since the original LP12, and it marked the day when their direction would completely changed. In 2009 they announced their intentions of no longer producing CD players (as mentioned above) and from then on they have taken everything they have learned (from years of producing… well… everything!) in order to create the fully integrated and highly cooperative systems we know and love (and pine for!) to this very day.
To find out a bit more about those systems, click here to see where the Linn story goes.
So, there you have it. An extremely condensed look to give you a small flavour of what makes Linn so unique. They have literally tried everything, and with everything they tried, they strived to perfect it. It was only a matter of time before their aim was perfecting everything all-in-one go, and that’s how the current Linn Hierarchy of systems came into being.
Do you want to know more? Well, you’ve come to the right place. We know our Linn. We know a great deal more than what’s above. If you have any questions, about current or past ranges, then give us a shout.
Otherwise, you can view everything that’s current with Linn, here.