The thing with Audeze headphones is that.. there is not really a thing! The company has managed to develop its patented take on the planar magnetic driver system such that there are now three different lines of LCD-branded headphones, each with 3–4 entries. There are even three different takes on the LCD-2, its breakout star from over a decade ago, to where all three will likely sound extremely different too. Such is the nature of the beast that classifying all Audeze headphones under a general impression is a fallacy, and then the company makes it harder with some announced and unannounced changes that can further affect how the headphones sound.

As of this moment at least, there is only one SKU of the LCD-2 Classic. No leather strap or ear cup options, no Fazors, no fancy wood rings, and certainly not the toned down but more accurate tuning of the currently manufactured LCD-2 itself, which incidentally costs $200 more. Neither is what I would describe as accurate based on the brief time spent listening to the LCD-2 with the company's founder himself. So the question to ask first is whether the LCD-2 Classic at $800 is a better buy than the LCD-2 at $1000, which it is to me. The LCD-2 Classic weighs less, is built just as well, comes inside a very good case that is practically no different for most than the higher-rated one that comes with the LCD-2 but has the Audeze logo on it as a thief magnet, and felt more fun to listen to in genres both are strong in. The LCD-2 Classic also has a wider, more open soundstage, but then loses out just as much on resolution and imaging. Without a direct comparison with both in hand, I don't remember enough to say which was better going into the upper mids and highs, though.

Even Audeze would warn you about using these as a reference set of headphones, and I am sure the company would rather sell you more expensive LCD Flagship line headphones for less compromises overall if you can spare the cash. But even at $800, there is strict competition from a variety of others who would claim their take on the dynamic driver setup is the way to go. Personally, I have heard good and bad implementations of planar magnetic drivers. A lot is needed to get that bass-heavy response people want from these, having heard all about it from others. I have yet to come across another implementation that does it better than Audeze, and the über-warm LCD-2 Classic takes it up another notch. Keep this and the other caveats listed above in mind. I probably would not buy this myself given my preferences, but recognize that it was not tuned with my tastes in mind, either. More out there than not will probably be pleased by the LCD-2 Classic, which is why it deserves the conditional recommendation.