AKG K702 vs Audeze LCD-5: which needs more amplifier?

The AKG K702 is 62Ω at 92.9 dB/mW; the Audeze LCD-5 is 14Ω at 90.0 dB/mW. This page is only about what they ask of an amplifier — not how they sound, which no specification on either sheet can tell you.

The Audeze LCD-5 needs 2.9 dB more than the AKG K702 to reach the same loudness — 10 mW against 5.1 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationAKG K702Audeze LCD-5
Impedance62 Ω14 Ω
Sensitivity92.9 dB/mW90.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)105.0 dB/V108.5 dB/V
Power for 100 dB5.1 mW10 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.56 V0.37 V
Current for 100 dB9.1 mA26.7 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
7.75 Ω1.75 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280274

Where the two part company

6 of the 280 sources have the power for the AKG K702 but not for the Audeze LCD-5 — Apple USB-C dongle (EU), Zoom AMS-22, Steinberg UR22C, 3 more.

5 sources are low enough in output impedance for the AKG K702 under the one-eighth rule but not for the Audeze LCD-5 (Schiit Vali 2+, Astell&Kern HC3, Shanling H5, 2 more).

274 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both. That count is about power only — the output-impedance and hiss lines above are separate questions, and a source can pass this one and fail those.

Both pages in full

Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: AKG K702 and Audeze LCD-5. Every figure on this page comes from what AKG and Audeze published, or is derived from it — what AKG publishes and what Audeze publishes, both counted.