Wave Controls and Linn
Music has always been a huge part of my life and work. As a kid my early memories were Sunday afternoons listening to the Radio 1 chart show with my Mum which we recorded onto cassettes. As a teenager I was the proud owner of a full stack of Technics separates featuring twin cassette deck, CD changer, stereo graphic equalizer, turntable and huge custom built speakers from a local ‘Radio repairs shop’. You picked your bass driver, they selected the appropriate mid and high range tweeters, encased the whole lot in a chipboard cabinet (MDF was little known and expensive) and wrapped it in vinyl.
In live events I worked for icons like Tina Turner, Metallica and the Foo Fighters. From the BBC studios in White City, The Ministry of Sound and Hyde Park kitted out with delay towers stretching back forever to deliver audio to 120,000 people, and through my work in custom installation and home cinema I’ve had music in my toolbox for most of my working life.
I first encountered Linn with a new client that had an existing Linn Knekt multi room audio system. It featured wall mounted keypads that could select FM radio stations, a CD changer and wait for it, a media server; a huge box that could rip your CD’s, complete with artwork, which Linn could then call up and play in any room. You could group rooms together and control volume from anywhere. First released in 1994, this was cutting edge stuff.
In 2009 we introduced our client to a music streaming service that at the time was so new they were giving away free accounts, no ads, from a simple invite code. It was Spotify. Our client couldn’t quite understand how we had both Pink Floyd and The Stones entire back catalogue on our phones.
Over the years I’ve witnessed the digital revolution in audio and what it has brought to people everywhere. During the Covid lockdowns there was an 87% increase in people’s engagement with music at home. The digital revolution in audio means access to unlimited audio content, on any device wherever you are, so music has even more power to enhance life experiences. We always have our favourite music with us thanks to some pretty nifty software. But at what cost? Firstly, a smart phone, then a subscription and most often sound quality. I’m fine with this if I’m on the move, headphones in, but performance and quality shouldn’t be sacrificed when enjoying music at home.
It is this desire to achieve high quality audio in my listening space that has led me to Linn’s range of Ultra high resolution streamers.
From the entry level single box solution, Majik to Selekt, their fully customisable streamer to the ultimate audiophile streamer Klimax, Linn have it all, and we haven’t even discussed turntables yet. Add to this the ability to seamlessly integrate a Linn network music player with a home automation system and the possibilities seem endless.
Luxury home automation and multiroom audio redefined.
High quality, integrated AV presents so many benefits, not just in people’s homes but also in commercial environments. A Linn system can be controlled using Control4, which in turn can be integrated with a KNX home automation system to link the audio to every sensory and well-being aspect of the building.
For instance, by using KNX to integrate the audio with lighting and climate controls we can create a welcome scene that illuminates the ground floor, switches the heating to comfort mode and starts a favourite playlist on the Linn system. When leaving the house or finishing up for the evening a single button press could stop the music and switch the lights off. You could even have Linn volume control buttons assigned to a keypad or wall control panel so that the audio is intuitively controlled along with the other building functions.
I’m excited to see where our new partnership with Linn will lead us and look forward to exploring the possibilities this presents.
The thought of limitless, high quality audio being experienced in every part of the home is something we think will appeal to all homeowners, not just audiophiles and those of us who are music obsessed.
