Linn is quite possibly the most prestigious and significant maker of high-performance home audio equipment that you’ve never heard of. This year, the company celebrates its 50th anniversary of designing and manufacturing the finest music systems in the world – spanning speakers, streamers, amplifiers, and turntables – all under one roof at its state-of-the-art facility in Scotland.
Each Linn product is hand-built at its factory, just outside Glasgow, and is signed with pride by the person who made it. In this world of planned obsolescence, they staunchly do the opposite; their hardware is modular, their software upgradeable, their eyes fixed firmly on the future – providing longevity and profoundly emotional musical experiences to their customers for years upon years.
The product that started it all for them in 1973, the iconic Sondek LP12 turntable, is still in continuous production after five decades – albeit with more than 50 components upgrades over the years. It’s still regarded by many as the benchmark in vinyl playback today; so much so that it has attracted high-profile customers across the globe. Sir Jony Ive, the world-famous British design genius behind the iPhone, iPad, iPod and MacBook, holds Sondek LP12 in such high esteem that he offered to co-design a special, limited edition version to celebrate Linn’s fiftieth anniversary this year – the Sondek LP12-50.
Linn Selekt LP12
Linn was awarded a Royal Warrant in 2002 as provider of Entertainment Systems to the household of The Prince of Wales (now King Charles III), and their systems were installed throughout the QE2 luxury ocean liner until her retirement – apparently having not broken down or been switched off in over 15 years.
More recently, their flagship digital music player – Klimax DSM – picked up eight Product of the Year awards from press publications in 2021. So while you may not have been aware of Linn up to now, they have been making waves in the world of discerning music-lovers for many years.
An indefatigable devotion to music drives absolutely everything that Linn does. Since 1973, its craftsmen have gone to extremes in the pursuit of musical perfection – and when you hear the results you’ll understand why.
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Book a complementary demonstration of Linn speakers, turntables and systems at an authorised specialist near you: linn.co.uk/try-linn. Read about the Jony Ive collaboration and order your limited edition Sondek LP12-50 here: linn.co.uk/turntables/lp12-50
