It's been awhile since i have been on this thread. thought I might add a brief opinion on the lcd-5s. I offer my opinion because it may differ from many other opinions expressed on this thread.
I purchased the LCD-5 and my dislike for the issues I experienced ergonomically and customer support-wise still remains, but I will focus on sonics. I own the Final Audio D8000 Pro and to my way of hearing, i consider it to be a techincally outstanding, and almost perfecty neutral/transparent headphone. But I wanted something a little more forward in the vocals/midrange. I consider the D8000 Pro to be transparent in this regard, adding almost no coloration to the source, but sometimes you want a different 'flavor'. I was looking for a slightly forward sound that would still maintain, to a great extent, overall neutrality and naturalness.
I like the LCD-5 sonically, but I do not consider it neutral or transparent to the source. So I like the forwardness, but I feel there is a slight swell in the upper midrange that quickly drops off and creates an undersirable warmth. I can see where the swell in the mids/upper mids may mask the missing frequencies, but the upper frequencies are clearly subdued to me and so I find the headphone to not provide the overall neutrality i was looking for. On the positive, I would say that unlike many previous Audezes I have owned, I am happy that there does not seem to be an artificially boosted lower midrange to congest vocals.
In comparing the D8000 Pro to the LCD-5, I find the D8000 Pro to be clearer, more resolving, more dynamic, and more natural and transparent to the source. I also find the timbre and imaging to be more accurate. Is the D8K pro absolutely perfect? I think it has a realism I do not hear in other headphones and I find to my ears, it is truer to life and more to my liking. Perhaps I would like a slight boost in midrange and less lower midrange, but I tend to think this a preference rather than a technical shortcoming of the headphone itself. I guess, if you look at measurements, its perfection could be debated. Also, I would note that I did not like the Pro out of the box. It took burn-in time. But at this point I find it to be more like a piece of equipment and a microscope to the music rather than a typical headphone that imparts it's own sound. It also possesses musicality, but maybe not the most musical I have heard. In fact, while less perfect, I'd say the D8000 is more musical than the Pro.
But I want to draw one other comparison. I recently came in to posession of the new LCD-XC. I prefer it to the LCD-5. I think it is as clear and more tonally correct. It did have a slight bleached quality to the upper midrange/treble initially but that improved over time. It has the clear sound, slightly forward midrange / vocals without any congestion, and sounds pretty well tonally balanced and natural. In short, unlike the LCD-5, it gave me exactly what I was looking for. It's all a matter of taste so I won't definitively say one is better than the other. I find the XC to be more neutral which for me, because I prefer not to use EQs, is my choice. The downside of the XC is that it is heavier and less comfortable than the LCD-5.
Also, the reason i came into posession was because my friend thought the XC lacked a bit of richness due to slight emphasis in upper midrange. The LCD-5 has an equal or greater swell, but because of what I perceive to be a preciptious dropoff it does not suffer from a bleached sound, if anything just the opposite. My friend strongly preferred the LCD-5 over the XC. He thought it possessed a 'regal' and rich sound quality. Also worth noting, he preferred the lack of veil and the fleshed-out treble on the RAAL w/Jott. over that of the XC, especially, but over the LCD-5 too.
But I have different gear and feel that the LCD-XC (also now more burned-in) does not suffer from a lack of richness. Is it the richest? No. But it strikes the right balance with me. Admittedly, I may try tuning pads on the XC but I am happy without them.
Some may wonder whether I prefer the XC to the D8000 Pro. good question, and I cannot answer definitively. I do think the D8000 Pro is still better and maybe more accurate, possesses better timbre, is more vibrant (with exeption of vocals which tend to be richer on the Pro but less vivid or highlighted than they are on the XC). The Pro is also more dynamic, but overall not necessarily more to my preference in regards to musicality. I also prefer the bass quantity, quality and slam of the D8000 Pro over the XC (and for that matter I think the Pro also matches or exceeds the LCD-5 in those attributes). But more comparisons would be necessary for me to give a real comparison between the XC and D8000 Pro in terms of what I ultimately prefer.