Audeze has revealed its latest flagship creation at NAMM 2026 in Anaheim, CA, with the new Audeze LCD-5s Flagship Planar Magnetic Headphones. Marking one exciting reveal for the show and the latest work of art from the company. The new flagship model targets the audiophile community, promising “absolute audio fidelity and the finest in hand-craftmanship”.
It features the company’s new SLAM technology (Symmetric Linear Acoustic Modulator), which it recently introduced with its Audeze Maxwell 2 Wireless Planar Magnetic Gaming Headset at CES 2026. This new design approach is meant to focus on enhanced bass response and spatial immersion.
You’ll find a mix of carbon fiber and magnesium within its chassis, allowing it to provide a lightweight design that isn’t going to result in physical exhaustion during your use of the headphones (at least, it shouldn’t). The shell of each earcup features a tortoiseshell-inspired design running around it, with a nice copper-like design in the grill.
The headphones are being touted as the “most accurate” planar headphone design the company has ever released, featuring a frequency response range of 5Hz to 50kHz (well outside of what humans are capable of hearing). Something that you’d normally assume as fluff marketing, since what point would running outside that range serve? Except that sound is more than just something you are capable of hearing. It moves air, creates vibrations, and various pressures. All of these variables can add to how your brain translates what it is experiencing.
It’s 90mm planar transducers feature the company’s nano-scale Parallel Uniforce diaphragm design, Fluxor magnet array, and Fazor phase management for “precise imaging and effortless dynamics”. Promising deep mid-range tuning and a fantastic overall experience.
The new LCD-5s Flagship Planar Magnetic Headphones are currently available from Audeze’s website and select authorized dealers. MSRP is $4,500, and you’ll want to make sure they are paired with an equally impressive headphone amplifier for the best results. That being said, the impedance of the LCD-5s is technically just 30 ohms, thus the headphones should be very easy to drive from just about anything. I guess we’ll just have to listen to them ourselves someday to know for sure. Nonetheless, they sound mighty impressive in words.
Specifications:
Style | Over-ear (circumaural), open-back |
Transducer type | Planar Magnetic |
Magnetic structure | Fluxor magnet array |
Phase management | Fazor |
Acoustic management | SLAM |
Magnet type | Neodymium N50 |
Diaphragm type | Nano-Scale Parallel Uniforce |
Transducer size | 90 mm |
Maximum SPL | >130dB |
Frequency response | 5Hz – 50kHz |
Impedance THD | 30 ohms <0.1% @ 100dB SPL |
Sensitivity | 90dB/1mW (@Drum Reference Point) |
Minimum power requirement | >100mW |
Recommended power level | >500mW |
Maximum power handling | 5W RMS |
Weight | 475g |
Shipping Weight | 9 lbs. |
Package dimensions | 16 L x 14 H x 8 W in. |
