Linn Products is a Scottish audio equipment manufacturer founded in 1973 by Ivor Tiefenbrun in Glasgow, Scotland. The company gained its initial reputation with the Sondek LP12 turntable, first introduced in 1972 and still in production, making it one of the longest-running turntable designs in audio history. The company remains privately held by the Tiefenbrun family and operates from a purpose-built factory in Glasgow, where it employs approximately 250 people.
Linn manufactures turntables, network music players (the DS range), amplifiers (Klimax, Akurate, Selekt, and Majik tiers), loudspeakers, and HDMI switching systems. The company was a pioneer in network streaming for high-end audio, launching the Klimax DS network music player in 2007, well before most competitors entered the streaming market. In 2009, Linn controversially ceased production of CD players entirely, fully committing to network streaming as the future of digital audio playback.
The company operates a vertically integrated manufacturing process, building circuit boards, machining metal components, and assembling finished products in-house at its Glasgow facility. Linn uses Surface Mount Technology (SMT) production lines for its circuit boards and employs a single-stage build process where individual technicians assemble complete products rather than using traditional assembly lines. The company also developed its own lossless streaming protocol, Songcast, and the proprietary Exakt technology, which moves digital-to-analog conversion and crossover processing to individual loudspeaker drive units.
Products are organized into four tiers: Majik (entry), Selekt (mid), Akurate (high), and Klimax (reference). The Sondek LP12 turntable ranges from approximately $3,000 in basic configuration to over $30,000 fully specified. The Klimax DSM network player and Klimax system hub retails for approximately $25,000. The company also operates Linn Records, an in-house record label that was among the first to sell studio master quality downloads.