If you think Apple’s $900 AirPods Max headphones are expensive, you won’t want to see the price of Audeze’s massive new LCD-5.
Headphones can sure get expensive, and ever since we tried on the Sennheiser HE1 Orpheus back at CES 2018, we’ve learned just how expensive some headphones can get. Priced at around the $20K mark, they’re a big pair of headphones matched with a big amp, more or less aimed at people who won’t question the price, let alone shed a tear when it comes to handing over money.
Few of us have that sort of money to spend on a pair of headphones, or even for a pair of grand speakers, but in many situations, big and expensive headphones are built to act like a pair of grand speakers, except made for your head.
That may well be the case with the latest pair from Audeze, which has been branching out into gaming headphones of late, but is also spinning up its HiFi benchmark headphones once again, the LCD range.
A company known for planar magnetic headphones, the latest is the LCD-5, and it’s one that comes with a total new set of internals with something called a “Parallel Uniforce” voice coil. While that’s clearly a play on words for “parallel universe”, it’s essentially a computer modelled technique to get as little distortion as possible for the headphones, something that has helped Audeze get a patent for.
However it also reads as a bit of technical jargon, as does much of the rest of the package, bringing Audeze’s Fluxor magnets, Fazor wave guides, and a carbon fibre headband with leather ear pads.
In short, the LCD-5 is a big pair of headphones with technology you can’t see, even if the price is one that you can’t help but shed a tear seeing.
In Australia, the Audeze LCD-5 will bet riced at $6799, putting it out of reach of most, except maybe the most ardent audiophiles who already know the Sennheiser Orpheus is out of their reach, as well.
For most people, headphones priced like either of these are totally unnecessary, and a good pair of headphones will handle pretty much everything you’d want to throw their way. But if you’re someone who demands the best, doesn’t mind being plugged into a cable, and also doesn’t mind handing over large sums of money for that privilege, you’ll find the Audeze LCD-5 coming to Australia later in the year.
