Audeze LCD-5s

Audeze say that the no‑compromise LCD‑5s is the best headphone they’ve ever made. Does its quality justify its cost?

When a high‑end brand introduces a new flagship product, high expectations are the order of the day. And when said product is a pair of headphones costing four figures, those expectations need to be fulfilled. Audeze have done so in the past; I was greatly impressed by their original LCD‑X when I reviewed them back in 2015. Since then, the flag has been passed successively to the LCD‑2, LCD‑3, LCD‑4, LCD‑5 and now the LCD‑5s. However, with each step forward, the price bar has been raised, to the point where the latest model nudges the £4000 markretails at $4500. To say that you could get a pretty nice pair of monitor speakers for that is an understatement. So does the LCD‑5s deliver value for money as a studio tool, or is it an expensive luxury?

Like all of the abovementioned models, the LCD‑5s is a passive design based around the latest iteration of Audeze’s signature planar magnetic technology. That means it incorporates such impressive‑sounding features as “Updated Fazor Waveguides, Parallel Uniforce Voicecoil and Fluxor Magnets” in a bid to set “a new standard for accuracy”. It’s also the first flagship model to use Audeze’s SLAM (Symmetric Linear Acoustic Modulator) technology, which equalises the resistance faced by the diaphragm when moving inwards and outwards.

Light Work

Historically, planar headphones have had their own strengths and weaknesses. The former include low distortion, good low‑frequency response and accurate representation of transients; chief among the latter are low sensitivity and limited high‑frequency extension. These flaws have largely been overcome in recent years, thanks to the availability of high‑powered rare‑earth magnets and to design innovations by Audeze and other manufacturers. Even so, the LCD‑5s is less sensitive than most moving‑coil models, generating a fairly modest 90dB SPL from a 1mW input. But with a nominal impedance of 14Ω, it remains fairly easy to drive; and, let’s face it, if you’re going to spend this much on a pair of headphones, you’ve probably got a half decent amp with which to drive them.

The LCD‑5s ships in a tankproof, lockable hardcase, and is the first review item that has ever arrived at SOS Towers with a pair of white cotton gloves for handling [not quite; Lauten Audio were first — Ed.]. It comes with a tough braided ‘Y’ cable that attaches to the...