reviews of the closed-back LCD headphones I could trust?

[ShiZo]

I sold my lcd2 closed in favor of my focal elegia.

 

[Peterinvan]

Closed cans that sound good ?

From what I have auditioned so far, only closed can that I find I liked were the Focal Stellia. Quite simply because they were the least "closed back sounding" headphones I have every tried.

If you have a chance, would suggest giving it a listen at your local friendly headphone shop before committing. Different people's ears hear things differently, so what may be nice to me may not apply to you.

In my experience listening to open backs in a HiFi store is always a challenge. My local store just got the LCD 5 in, and I enjoyed them for 20 minutes with my M11Pro DAP. However the traffic and customer noise was very distracting. Perhaps this is why I prefer closed backs when in the store. My at home reference is a pair of 2019 LCD-XC.

 

[Peterinvan]

I find the LCD-2 closed-backs superior to the 2x more expensive LCD-XC, a headphone which I found to have some in-cup resonances which I did not like. .

But bear in mind, the LCD-2 are heavy. Just lie down and luxuriate in them.

I guess my ears are different… on my side by side audition of the LCD-2C and the LCD- XC (2019), the XC had much better soundstage, imaging, and seperation. The bass is enveloping but not muddy. The XC is my at home reference. I agree that you need to support your head while listening for a long time (La-Z-Boy chair is just right)