Alright, JM Audio Editions XTC (closed) may be my end game closed back and a serious competitor in the closed back headphones space. It easily dethrones the Focal Elegia for me and I think it's competitive with the Stellia (from memory - different but competitive). I just have to get my hands on a Stellia again to try. I hope maybe someone at a local meetup later this month brings one to let others try. Also have to revisit some ZMF too (from memory I like it more the the VC)...but so far this XTC is good stuff.
It has excellent soundstage and imaging due to JM's fractal mesh. A larger soundstage than normal for a closed back.
The beryllium driver he sourced is clearly of good quality - detailed and tight response. The bass is especially good. Really good.
Pretty comfortable and they aren't heavy.
It's a dynamic headphone in the direction of Focal but I find is less fatiguing (not that Focal is
that fatiguing, but they can be for a long session). It's engaging and with it's detail you just want to keep listening more to see what else you can pick up.
There's actually quite a lot you can do with these. It came with a few ear pads. It has ports that you can cover to change the tuning a bit too. All of this I have yet to tinker with.
It's really an experience. I thought that experience would have ended once you order it, because it's a bit of a custom headphone. JM customizes the tuning a bit based on your input. The experience hasn't ended there though, because there's still all these adjustments you can make on your own - with everything you need right out of the box.
It'll be a bit before I can really put together a full review, but I wanted to share these early impressions (and a quick photo of them coming out of the box! I like the black ones too but the wood is pretty with a nice clear coat)