What about the Celestee vs the Radiance and the 2021 revision of the LCD-XC?
I’ve tested the Elegia during several days after the Sundara. I was really enjoying the Hifiman a lot to give you an idea of what I like. But had to send them back as my wife wasn’t happy about the sound leak and I’m looking now for a closed back.
I have the Celestees and they’re pretty effective at closing off sound leakage. Nothing is 100% perfect but these have a great seal and should do the trick for you.
Thanks for your answer.
By any chance, were you able to compare the Celestee vs the Elegia or Audeze LCD-XC ?
Nope. Bought it untested from a place with a generous return policy. Listened to and loved it.
I’m struggling to find a place to listen to the Audezes here in London but I can get the Celestee as a free home trial from PremiumSound.co.uk. Given that the Celestee are less expensive than the LCD-XC and Radiance it makes sense to listen to those in priority…
No joy with Audio Sanctuary over in Surrey?
They have a showroom and claim to have a wide selection to audition.
Thanks for the tip mate ! I only started to look into this a month ago so I am clearly discovering things every day.
I have asked to SevenOaks Sound & Vision as they have a couple of showrooms not far away from where I live. Waiting for an answer.
I’m going to see with Audio Sanctuary.
Any experience in driving the XC with an iPhone?
On Audio Sanctuary website, they mention it may be tried in store…. 
Any tip to listen/buy ZMF headphones ?
Check out the Aeolus - it’s a beautiful and beautiful-sounding example of what they do.
My understanding is that ZMF’s dealer in the UK is Acorn Audio. I just checked where they’re based and, as it happens, they’re just down the road from Audio Sanctuary, near New Malden: Contact — Acorn Audio. You might contact them to ask if they have any demo units.
I’m not sure, though, that all of the ZMF closed-back headphones are fully sealed; the Atticus and Eikon are vented, to judge from their appearance. They may be sufficiently isolating for your needs (or your wife’s!), but if not, the Vérité Closed are more isolating, I believe. I doubt you’d be able to drive them with just a phone, though. You’d need a powerful DAP, I should think (I’m not sure, though!).
I’m afraid I’ve not heard the XC yet. I’m on a loaner tour here in the US, so I hope to be able to check out the Audeze soon. (I live in the US but am British, was born just south of London, and my family’s there still, so I keep an eye on local headphones shops for when I come back to visit).
I’m not sure about the sensitivity of the LCD-XC (I think @Dynamic might know) but the Focal headphones are typically easy to drive. If you like their sound signature, they may be the best suited to your needs.
Welcome to the forum!
Very useful thanks. Being local sometimes helps being more efficient while searching 
.
Unfortunately the Vérité are off-budget….
Am going to try to setup a visit to Audio Sanctuary and Arcon on the same day.
Good luck, I hope you can get to hear all of the headphones you want to audition. Let us know your impressions of them, please! It would be great to hear your take on them.
Not loud. The qudelix works quite well. If you want to go all out, ifi micro signature. But only beneficial if you listen super loud.
I did not spend a lot of time with the dongle though.
Did you post somewhere your experience with the XC? I don’t want to ask you to repeat !
No, mostly because I didn’t feel like I kept them long enough to put something down officially. I am happy to answer questions though.
Are you talking about the DACs or the LCD-XCs?
I would be happy to get your take on the headphones and what kind of music they fit with? But I really need to listen to them. It’s so subjective!
I was only in possession of the lcd-xc for a short time. The reason for that is I explicitly bought them as my first closed back model for listening to music around my wife. She basically vetoed them as she says she can hear everything I am listening to just like the open backs. This remains true of all closed backs I have had so far. I use IEMs in this situation.
At the time, I only had my dunu Zen to compare to it. I hadn’t heard the 177x go, hp-2, drop ether cx or ananda yet.
So, any comparison I do now is based mostly on memory. Therefore I will limit myself to my conclusions at the time against the Zen.
If you put these headphones on a continuums from fun/engaging → neutral they go hp-2 > lcd-xc >= zen > ananda > drop ether cx.
If you put them on a similar continuum for smooth presentation → plucked clarity it would be hp-2 > ananda > lcd-xc >= zen > drop ether cx
A couple of other notes about the XC: it was shoutier than my Zen. This had the effect of me turning down the volume which limited bass impact. And, I think it is the gold standard for what normal headphones should be. They are “safe” good headphones at this budget. Like the ananda at their price point. If something about these is lacking, find out what it is, because you probably have a preference there you should follow.
Those are my thoughts. Lcd-xc are awesome.
Last note: I picked these things because they have the biggest impact on my thoughts on sound. The other thing I like is cohesion across all things. All these headphones have that.
Buy something like this
https://drop.com/buy/rooth-earplug
Gift to spouse 
Enjoy whatever headphones you want.
Obviously, a “high-fidelity” earplug will only block high-fidelity sounds. This means that the more expensive your rig, the better your spouse’s earplugs will work.
I actually gave her the blessing 2 dusk and sony xm3 to try and solve this. Didn’t work. 