A unusual company started by an unusual individual for unusual reasons.
Back in the early 70’s, the conventional industry wisdom was that sound quality was determined by good or bad speakers.
The experts believed the hi-fi chain started with the speakers and worked down to the source of the music – at that time – the turntable.
This understanding dominated the way the industry designed new systems.
But Ivor believed the exact opposite to be true.
The source of the music was the most important element.
As odd as it seemed at the time – his reasoning was pretty straightforward.
Common sense really.
To pick up the music on a turntable, the needle follows the record grooves for information stored in the groove walls. Movements so minute, they are measured in microns.
It’s when you scale the ‘groove world’ up to inches that things start to get pretty hair raising.
Suddenly you are in a deep crevice. The walls are undulated. Approaching at an alarming speed is a bobsled. As it hurtles through the passage it has to pick up tiny pieces of information.
The bobsled is, or course, the needle.
And to pick up a deep organ note it has to swerve 10 feet 6 inches.
For a high violin note it’s less than an inch.
A difference which may not seem staggering in itself. Until you stop to consider that the needle is travelling 6 miles per second. And that the pivot point of the lever controlling it is 4 miles away.
In these terms you can see how easy it is to miss out on critical information.
These same principles apply today. No speakers in the world can bring back lost music. It must be dealt with at its source, for example, the CD player, DVD player or tuner.
A painfully obvious idea. Yet at that time the entire industry ridiculed it. Because it pointed out they were wrong.
So Ivor ignored them. And quietly set about building a turntable.
In 1972 Linn Products was born.
BACK
The experts believed the hi-fi chain started with the speakers and worked down to the source of the music – at that time – the turntable.
This understanding dominated the way the industry designed new systems.
But Ivor believed the exact opposite to be true.
The source of the music was the most important element.
As odd as it seemed at the time – his reasoning was pretty straightforward.
Common sense really.
To pick up the music on a turntable, the needle follows the record grooves for information stored in the groove walls. Movements so minute, they are measured in microns.
It’s when you scale the ‘groove world’ up to inches that things start to get pretty hair raising.
Suddenly you are in a deep crevice. The walls are undulated. Approaching at an alarming speed is a bobsled. As it hurtles through the passage it has to pick up tiny pieces of information.
The bobsled is, or course, the needle.
And to pick up a deep organ note it has to swerve 10 feet 6 inches.
For a high violin note it’s less than an inch.
A difference which may not seem staggering in itself. Until you stop to consider that the needle is travelling 6 miles per second. And that the pivot point of the lever controlling it is 4 miles away.
In these terms you can see how easy it is to miss out on critical information.
These same principles apply today. No speakers in the world can bring back lost music. It must be dealt with at its source, for example, the CD player, DVD player or tuner.
A painfully obvious idea. Yet at that time the entire industry ridiculed it. Because it pointed out they were wrong.
So Ivor ignored them. And quietly set about building a turntable.
In 1972 Linn Products was born.
BACK
