Audeze LCD-S20

The LCD‑S20’s braided cable can be plugged into whichever of the two earcups is most convenient.

With their latest model, Audeze aim to solve one of the harder problems in headphone design.

From music to lifestyles, anything ‘alternative’ that’s successful enough eventually becomes mainstream. Planar magnetic headphone technology seems to be following the same course. Since its revival by Dr Drag Colich at Audeze, its combination of low distortion and superb transient response has made planar drivers increasingly popular in high‑end open‑backed headphones. However, manufacturers still have some problems to solve before they can compete with conventional moving‑coil technology in other markets.

One is cost, and we’re already seeing progress on this front. Makers such as Hifiman are bringing planar designs to market at highly affordable prices, and we shouldn’t forget that Fostex have been selling mass‑market ‘orthodynamic’ headphones since the 1970s. Another is size. Flagship planar models such as the Audeze LCD‑X have always been much larger and heavier than typical dynamic designs, but that too is changing. Audeze themselves have successfully miniaturised the planar driver to the point where it can be used in IEMs.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle standing in the way of the planar juggernaut, though, is isolation. I’m a big fan of many Audeze models, notably the LCD‑X, MM‑500 and LCD‑MX4, but what all of these have in common is that they are open‑backed. The same goes for the Avantone Planars and for all of the really good‑sounding models in Hifiman’s range. Whereas it seems to be possible to make closed‑back moving‑coil headphones that sound very nearly as good as the best open‑backed models — AKG’s K812 come to mind — that just hasn’t happened with planar magnetic ’phones. Yet.

Out of all the models I’ve heard, the design that came closest to solving all three of these challenges was Oppo’s PM3. Compact and lightweight, relatively affordable and surprisingly balanced in tone, these closed‑back cans have been a mainstay of mine since I reviewed them exactly a decade ago. Unfortunately, however, my own PM3s have long outlasted Oppo’s headphone division, and any hope of further development in that quarter seems forlorn. Which leaves the field open for the latest attempt to pull this particular sword from its stone: the LCD‑S20, from the OGs of the modern planar revival, Audeze themselves.

LCD Soundsystem

With a sub‑£500 retail price, the LCD‑S20s are quite a bit more affordable than...