Jony Ive revamps a Linn turntable… and doubles its price

2023-07-07 19:52:30

A typeface, seals for the British crown, a book, a watchOS dial, the philosophical direction of an application… LoveFrom’s achievements are eclectic, but with the exception of a paper red nose for Comic Relief , there dream team by Jony Ive cautiously steered clear of material products. Until the presentation of la platine vinyle Sondek LP12-50a reinterpretation of the famous LP12 which marks the fiftieth anniversary of Scottish manufacturer Linn Products.

Image Linn.

“At the start of 2022”, narrator Gilad Tiefenbrun, “I received a request to meet British design guru Jony Ive from an unknown sender on LinkedIn. Of course, I deleted it immediately thinking it was spam. » A few days later, however, the general manager of Linn and the former “chief designer” of Apple met by interposed screens on FaceTime.

Image Linn.

Jony Ive has never hidden his attraction for the LP12 turntable, produced continuously since 1973 and a source of controversy for fifty years. Hamish Robertson had founded Ariston to market the RD11 turntable equipped with the famous “single point” bearing. The parts were made by Castle Precision Engineering, a company run by Jack Tiefenbrun, whose son Ivor Tiefenbrun rushed to form Linn to sell rebadged LP12 RD11 turntables.

Image Linn.

A few threats and a lawsuit later, Robertson disappeared from the shelves and Linn started his marketing machine. It’s the Linn way or the wrong way : the Scottish manufacturer is known for his stubbornness bordering on dogmatism and his morbid aversion to objective measurements. Does this remind you of anyone? “We identified a few areas where we could make slight improvements and evolve the current design smoothly”, explains Jony Iveany other proposal would have been sacrilege.

Image Linn.

LoveFrom’s intervention was thus limited to softening the curves of the plinth, replacing a plastic switch with a metal switch and designing hinges capable of keeping the hood open in any position. The two companies have no “no contractual obligation or financial commitment”Jony Ive’s studio stepped in pro bono, For the beauty of the gesture. But Linn is not a charity, so the 250 copies of the Sondek LP12-50 will sell for €59,500, twice the price of the production Klimax LP12.

1688764983
#Jony #Ive #revamps #Linn #turntable #doubles #price

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.