When you think of Scottish musicians, you may conjure up such artists as Annie Lennox, Simple Minds or even Franz Ferdinand. But whether you intended to or not, it’s more than likely that your mind has already been invaded by those sulky twins, Craig and Charlie Reid, better known as The Proclaimers. The earworm has already been planted and your belting out lyrics from their best known number “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”… Don’t worry. You’re not alone. Ironically though, 500 miles is roughly the distance from Portsmouth to Glasgow. The very same trip that we took whilst on a golden opportunity to visit Linn…

Once we arrived at the factory, it was straight to business, lunch orders. The most important part of any event. Once those lunch orders were placed, and the hungry stomachs were addressed, it was time to delve into the beating heart of Linn.

Linn was founded when Ivor Tiefenbrun went into his local audio shop to buy himself the best home music. When he got home however, he wasn’t satisfied with the quality. The music wasn’t toe tapping and the soul was lacking. So he boxed up his newly purchased equipment, took it back to the audio shop, and was told he needed bigger speakers. He got home with these bigger speakers, to find the sound was better, but not better enough. After a few rounds of this he had the best system that the shop could provide, and still wasn’t finding the music engaging enough - It still wasn’t moving his feet!

So, being an engineer by trade, Ivor decided to start experimenting with his equipment for the best sound. Rotating speakers, moving the amp and other equipment around the room. Finally he found the sound he was after by placing the turntable outside the listening space and in his hallway. He found that this meant he could isolate any external vibrations the speakers cause that would interfere with the turntable. This gave him the quality in the music source he was looking for.

This was against the thinking of the time. Surely with a system the speakers produce the sound, thus are the most important component? Ivor may have very well struck gold with this concept. The source is arguably the most important part of the signal chain. If something is bad going in, it will inevitably be bad coming out.

This started a thesis in his head, an idea to design his own turntable from what he had learned. The aim was to improve the turntable to be as perfect a source as possible.

Thus the creation of Linn Audio and their LP12 Turntable.

The Linn LP12

The LP12, now being a turntable with over 40 years of design behind it, allowing the model to be the near pinnacle of turntable engineering. Streamlined through the years to include only what it needs to sound the best to your ears, all stemming from that concept that inspired Ivor originally, “rubbish in, rubbish out”.

But wait, the turntable isn’t the true source? The record you place on the turntable is the true source? So to support his new turntable design, Linn Records breathed its first breath.

These roots still hold strong today. There is a sense of quality in even their simplest ideas which brings so much life to not only their products but the atmosphere they choose to create.

The Factory

me and agamemnon (From the online store) styling the latest linn fashion

The idea of bringing us up to Scotland was to open the curtain on their company, to show why they have been successful in the Hi-fi industry for so long. So once we don our fabulous Linn lab coats, it was time to explore.

The factory itself was originally designed in the 1980s by The Richard Rogers Partnership (of Millennium Dome fame) to stand as a state of the art modern facility. Since the 1980s it has gone through a range of additions to bring it into the modern day, but still with the original design at its heart, much like the company itself.

We were shown through the whole process of manufacturing their products, from the humble beginnings of machining sheet metal, the circuitry, the final assembly, to the export of the products. This detail walkthrough enabled us to see the energy that is poured into each step of the process to enable you to bring a little bit of Hi-fi history into your everyday enjoyment of music. Not only that, they rigorously test the products throughout with different aspects of quality control and measuring. Ultimately meaning the product you receive is one they know you will love, one they are proud to put their names on.

Linn Service reference units to compare any repairs to to ensure your product works as intented

When it comes to servicing their products, the data they collect during the manufacturing process gives them a unique insight in the unlikely event that a problem arises. So when it comes to supporting their products, Linn have your back.

And all in all that is the recurring theme around the Linn factory, a very welcoming magical place where the focus is on the people. This is the way all Hi-Fi brands ought to be, music and music systems are a very personal thing, so it made sense to me that at Linn I had the feeling of a chocolate factory or a village in the North Pole.

Talking about the mythical feeling feels suitable as with Linn comes a whole history, with both customers and those who work there. It was mentioned how tone arms made by certain employees at the factory have ascended to legend as they are said to have a superior sound to them, a love letter to the hand made nature of the products.

Furthermore we discussed the heritage that can come with a Linn turntable. The LP12 design has been adjusted and changed in a way that allows any LP12 to be updated to current specification, meaning there are some cases of turntables being passed down a generation or two while still being upgraded to the standard of the modern Klimax LP12.

So all in all, we got a lucky chance to have a look around the heart of Linn and talk to some of the people in charge who keep it beating for the love of music and the goal to pass that down and share it.

Thanks for reading

Jake, Nick and Luke at - Audio T Portsmouth

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Linn can be found at the following Audio-T stores