Ivor Tiefenbrun
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| Born: | March, 1946 Glasgow, Scotland |
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| Occupation: | Chairman, Linn Products |
| Website: | http://www.linn.co.uk |
Ivor Sigmund Tiefenbrun MBE is the founder and Chairman of Linn Products Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland-based manufacturers of Hi-fi and home entertainment equipment. He was a very influentual figure in the manufacture and retail of British audio in the 1970s and 1980s, and was appointed MBE by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 1992.
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[edit] Biography
Tiefenbrun was born in Glasgow, Scotland in March 1946, the oldest of three children, to Jan (also known as Jack) Tiefenbrun, refugee from Austria in 1939.
Tiefenbrun dropped out of a Mechanical Engineering degree from Glasgow's Strathclyde University, and developed his engineering and business skills in his late father, Jack Tiefenbrun's company, Castle Precision Engineering, now run by his younger brother Marcus. He married Evelyn Stella Balarsky in 1969, and has three children - Natan (born 1970), Gilad (1972) and Sara (1977).
Linn Products Limited was started by Tiefenbrun in the city's Castlemilk district near Linn Park in 1972 in order to manufacture a hi-fi turntable, developed from his personal interest in music reproduction. His approach was to try getting more information off the Long-play gramophone record (otherwise known as the LP), and making the turntable immune to audio feedback -very different from the prevalent view in the hi-fi industry at that time. The end product was the Linn Sondek LP12, which remains an industry benchmark to this day.
In the early years, Tiefenbrun hawked the turntable around shops in a crusade against the received wisdom that all turntables sounded the same. Those few dealers who wanted to listen to it did, and heard a difference. By the end of the 1970s, this view had gained significant ground, large numbers of dealers and audiophiles had by then accepted this as the norm in the United Kingdom.
In May 2006, it was announced that Ivor Tiefenbrun had stepped aside as Linn's Managing Director, but would assume the role of Executive Chairman.
[edit] Recognition and awards
- MBE for his services to the Electronics Industry (1992)
- Invited to serve on the Council of the Design Council (1995 - 1999)
- Honorary Fellowship from the Glasgow School of Art (1999)
- Scottish Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2001)
- Visiting Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Strathclyde University (2004)
[edit] Other
He is founder member of the Entrepreneurial Exchange.
