Ivor Tiefenbrun

Infobox_Celebrity
name = Ivor Sigmund Tiefenbrun
caption = deletable image-caption
birth_date = March, 1946
birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Chairman, Linn Products
salary =
networth =
website = http://www.linn.co.uk

Ivor Sigmund Tiefenbrun MBE (born March 1946) is the founder and Chairman of Linn Products Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland-based manufacturers of Hi-fi and home entertainment equipment. He was a very influential 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.

Biography

Tiefenbrun was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the oldest of three children, to Jan (also known as Jack) Tiefenbrun, refugee from Poland 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 (1978).

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.

He is founder member of the Entrepreneurial Exchange.

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)

References

External links

* [http://www.thebaj.com/features/tiefenbrun.htm The British Audio Journal]
* [http://www.luxuryscotland.co.uk/about/about_5minute_ivor.html Luxuryscotland.co.uk]
* [http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/457/ Stereophile interview, October 1994]
* [http://www.tnt-audio.com/intervis/linnave.html TNT audio interview, November 1998]
* [http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/1101ivor/ Stereophile interview, November 2001]
* [http://www.knekt.com/linn_company/linn_best_place_in_britain.cfm Linn Products]
* [http://www.entrepreneur.strath.ac.uk/alumni/profiles/ivor_teifenbrun.htm Strathclyde University]