[urbino]

Guys, what's a good pair of closed cans that won't look out of place at the office?  Price-wise, I'm open to anything up to, say, $700USD.
 
Closed cans I want to hear are challenging enough to find, but throw in conservative good looks and I'm coming up completely empty.  Sonically, I'd really like to snag some Alpha-Dogs or Primes, but they're a bit Spaceman Spiff-looking for office use.  I'm considering some Shure 1540s, maybe, but I'm a little worried about comfort since the earcups have zero rotation and my head is rather wedge-shaped.  Oppo PM-3s are an option, but they're almost so conservative looking I don't want to own them.

 

[Asr]

Not sure about head shape, but I personally found that the SRH1540 was really comfortable (and lots of others on Head-Fi have reported the same). I really disliked that headphone sonically though and sold it in short order.
 
I'd recommend either the Audio-Technica MSR7 or Yamaha MT220. They sound quite different from each other though. Given the full-size open headphones in your signature, I'd guess that you might prefer the MSR7 between the two, as it's somewhat Grado-like in nature in terms of the imaging, and is probably about as trebly as your HE-400i (which I previously owned).
 
In any case, can't hurt to just buy either the PM-3, or MSR7, from a place with a good return policy (Oppo has a great return policy, btw, and the MSR7 is available from a wide variety of retailers that also do).

 

[urbino]

Thanks for the very thoughtful reply, Asr.  It's extremely helpful.
 
I do like the 400i sound very much. I don't find them notably trebly, but I have noticed I like their sound even better through the tube amp.  The Q701s are more a special-purpose headphone for when their sonic signature is useful.  The SHP9500s aren't particular favorites; they're too boom-and-sizzle.
 
I've been a bit wary of the MSR7s because, from the reviews I've seen, it seems like they might be a bit too sibilant, which I can't take.

 

[urbino]

Well, I went with a pair of Momentum 2's.  Saw too many complaints about the comfort of the MSR7, on top of my concern about their sibilance.  It came down to M2's or PM-3's.  Both are good, neither is thrilling, so I went with the less expensive of the two.