An Exakt science

BACK when vinyl was king, Scottish high-end audio firm Linn lorded over the competition with its legendary turntable - the Linn Sondek LP12 which was launched in 1972. It took the hi-fi world by storm, and no self-respecting audiophile could afford to be without it. Such is its enduring appeal that Linn still makes the Sondek today.

With that kind of pedigree, and vinyl staging a strong comeback now, you would expect Ivor Tiefenbrun - Linn's founder and Sondek designer - to be waxing lyrical about the staying power of records. Not quite, the pioneer in the world of analogue playback instead believes firmly that going digital is the way of the future.

"Records have gone from being one per cent of the market to 2per cent and so people think they are making a comeback. Truth is, vinyl is not a serious format any more," he said during a recent visit to Singapore to promote Linn's Exakt systems at local distributor Global Audio.