Audeze’s new $4,500 headphones are perfect for people with too much money

We’re big Audeze fans here at KnowTechie, with their ever-dependable planar magnetic drivers and signature sound. Now there’s a new flagship in the range, the $4,500 LCD-5. Yes, that’s the price, it’s not a typo. Prepare your wallets, because your ears will want this.

While new changes to the planar driver and magnet design bring an extended frequency response, the real thing you’re going to want to know is that they’re lighter than the last flagship, the LCD-4, weighing a third less.

Audeze’s over-ears have long been considered by many to be heavy for long listening periods, so the 420g that the LCD-5 weighs in at should silence some of the detractors.

That weight reduction was thanks to new materials used in the construction, from magnesium to acetate, and carbon fiber. Personally, I’ve never found the weight to be an issue with my LCD-3’s, but the change to carbon fiber from steel for the headband will be a nice change for comfort.

Newly sculpted leather earpads improve the upper midrange frequency response, along with Audeze’s Fluxor magnets, updated Fazor waveguides, and the new Parallel Uniforce voice coils which all add up to what the company calls its most accurate drivers ever.

READ MORE: Review: Audeze Euclid in-ear headphones – expensive, but nearly perfect

Audeze also includes an “ultra-high purity cable” and you now get an aluminum carrying case to keep them safe if you travel. That’s a nice upgrade from the pelican-style case that Audeze usually ships with its high-end headphones.

You can order them from Audeze starting today, with shipping starting “early October.”

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Editors’ Recommendations:

• Review: Audeze Penrose – a wireless gaming headset that gets the job done
• Review: Audeze LCDi3 in-ear planar headphones
• These new headphones from Bose can last 24 hours on a single charge
• The best DAC/AMP stacks for your headphones

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere. His hobbies include photography, animation, and hoarding Reddit gold.