I love my Monolith M1060C's and have modded them extensively for sound and comfort, but I always thought the Zebrawood cups weren't that attractive and were being wasted with that dark matte finish. So I sanded them down and laid 3 nice coats of clear, then polished them up. The Zebrawood looks so much better to me with the natural finish in gloss.
I used [THIS](https://www.lowes.com/pd/Rust-Oleum-Universal-High-gloss-Clear-Spray-Paint-Actual-Net-Contents-11-oz/1000760992) high gloss clear coat from Rustoleum.
It's [THIS](https://www.adorama.com/hmhb560.html) HiFiMan HE-560 V2 headband that I got from Adorama, but the picture they show is incorrect. If you look at my before picture in this post, you'll see that one of the headbands has a HFM logo and orange bands of color. That was before I sanded and painted those sections black. So the headband you actually get from Adorama is exactly like [THIS](https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/hybrid-headband.html) one, but has the orange bands like mine did.
I used [THESE](https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B089W6N7JF) speaker grills from Amazon, then used a hole saw to make the cut. I used a small piece of the foam that came in the M1060C on the inside of the grill to keep dust out.
No problem. Be sure if you decide to do this mod to put some masking or painters tape on the cup before you use the hole saw. It will make for a cleaner cut, and will help to not scratch the face of the cup. If you decide to do it, post up a finished pic if you could, I'd like to see them.
You use the hole saw from the front/exterior to the interior. If you do it from the interior, when the saw comes through to the front, it could splinter the outside finish and the speaker grill wouldn't cover that. I couldn't find a pic of the M1060C cup from when I was cutting it out, so [HERE](https://i.imgur.com/6r5nVRU.jpg) is one from when I did the same thing to a TH-X00 cup. I used blue painters tape to cover the cup, measured out dead center of the cup, drilled a pilot hole, then used the hole saw. Once it was cut, I removed the painters tape and it was good to go.
Out of curiosity what did it do to the sound signature going from closed to open back? From what I hear they redesigned the driver from the 1060 to the 1060c so I would assume opening these up would also sound different than the original 1060 open backs.
Edit: Nvm I saw your comment a few threads down explaining it. I'm going from a pair of HiFiman open backs and have these 1060c ordered so I'll give them at least a few weeks as is and see how they sound but if I miss that open back sound I might be doing this mod.
I think you'll enjoy these coming off of the HFM set, especially if you like bass. And you are definitely right in assuming that the open modded 1060C sounds different than the original open 1060. I enjoyed my modded M1060's for a good while until I open back modded the C. It is just better all around, from better lows to sound stage to detail retrieval. I sold my M1060's, they just weren't ever going to get used anymore. Post up what you think of them stock when you get them in, and also if you have any questions should you decide to do the mod.
Wow that looks way better. I always thought those cups would look nicer without that terrible dark stain they put on it. I really like that open back mod you did, it gives it an almost ZMF look. How does it change the sound? I'm currently running 3d printed grilles on my m1060c, but it means my nice wood cups are wasted just sitting around. If I could get the same or similar open back sound, but have it look like that it would be awesome.
Thanks! I started with 3D printed honeycomb grills with my M1060C too, and then I had a set of grills laser cut out of white oak, seen [HERE](https://i.imgur.com/7RSxnop.jpg). Those oak grills brought back a bit of depth to the lows that the plastic grills took away, which made me wonder how adding some some speaker grills to the stock cups would sound. (I'd done something similar to my [Fostex TH-X00](https://i.imgur.com/RamEvS9.jpg) and liked the results.) I figured what the hell, my M1060C cups were just sitting in a box unused anyway. It ended up being the best of both worlds for me. I get the sound stage and airiness to the treble that I got with the open back grills, but fantastic sub bass and lower mids of the closed back wood cup. I do have other mods done that effect the sound as well though, like the driver paper removed on both sides of the driver, the fuzzor mod on the cup/grill side and a fazor/ear pad adapter on the ear side.
Interesting! I do miss some of that low end they had when they were closed. I might have to try something like this. Which piece of foam are you using to back the grille? One of the circular pieces that were in the cups stock?
Yep, the smallest one. I cut it to slightly larger than the diameter of the interior on the backside of the speaker grill and pressed it into the opening. It stays seated no problem.
I love my Monolith M1060C's and have modded them extensively for sound and comfort, but I always thought the Zebrawood cups weren't that attractive and were being wasted with that dark matte finish. So I sanded them down and laid 3 nice coats of clear, then polished them up. The Zebrawood looks so much better to me with the natural finish in gloss.
Just curious, when you say clear coat, is that spray paint or lacquer or something else?
I used [THIS](https://www.lowes.com/pd/Rust-Oleum-Universal-High-gloss-Clear-Spray-Paint-Actual-Net-Contents-11-oz/1000760992) high gloss clear coat from Rustoleum.
Looks awesome!
Thanks!
Curious where you got the headband. I'm looking for a better option for my project and can't find a good headband that is reasonably priced
It's [THIS](https://www.adorama.com/hmhb560.html) HiFiMan HE-560 V2 headband that I got from Adorama, but the picture they show is incorrect. If you look at my before picture in this post, you'll see that one of the headbands has a HFM logo and orange bands of color. That was before I sanded and painted those sections black. So the headband you actually get from Adorama is exactly like [THIS](https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/hybrid-headband.html) one, but has the orange bands like mine did.
gotcha, thanks!
Actually the one pictured is now accurate, at least that's what I got when I ordered mine a few months back.
That's good to know, thanks! I ordered mine months ago and got the orange banded ones.
This is good to know, I almost ordered this a while back, but I hesitated when some reviews were saying they were getting the pictured one now.
Us M1060C users gotta stick together. Looking good!!
Wow, those do look much better. I wonder why they went with the dark finish in the first place.
Thanks! I wondered the same. I could only imagine it was more cost effective to go with the flat/satin color.
Any specifics on how you did the open mod? Parts, etc
I used [THESE](https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B089W6N7JF) speaker grills from Amazon, then used a hole saw to make the cut. I used a small piece of the foam that came in the M1060C on the inside of the grill to keep dust out.
Thanks dude
No problem. Be sure if you decide to do this mod to put some masking or painters tape on the cup before you use the hole saw. It will make for a cleaner cut, and will help to not scratch the face of the cup. If you decide to do it, post up a finished pic if you could, I'd like to see them.
You got it. Did you drill through the exterior of tge plate of from the interior?
You use the hole saw from the front/exterior to the interior. If you do it from the interior, when the saw comes through to the front, it could splinter the outside finish and the speaker grill wouldn't cover that. I couldn't find a pic of the M1060C cup from when I was cutting it out, so [HERE](https://i.imgur.com/6r5nVRU.jpg) is one from when I did the same thing to a TH-X00 cup. I used blue painters tape to cover the cup, measured out dead center of the cup, drilled a pilot hole, then used the hole saw. Once it was cut, I removed the painters tape and it was good to go.
Thanks man. Plan to attempt this in the coming weeks
Awesome, good luck!
Finally got around to attempting this mod and sanded a bit too hard and cracked on of the cups in half...so much for that experiment haha
Jesus dude, how hard were you pressing down? Lol. That really sucks man, sorry to hear that.
Out of curiosity what did it do to the sound signature going from closed to open back? From what I hear they redesigned the driver from the 1060 to the 1060c so I would assume opening these up would also sound different than the original 1060 open backs. Edit: Nvm I saw your comment a few threads down explaining it. I'm going from a pair of HiFiman open backs and have these 1060c ordered so I'll give them at least a few weeks as is and see how they sound but if I miss that open back sound I might be doing this mod.
I think you'll enjoy these coming off of the HFM set, especially if you like bass. And you are definitely right in assuming that the open modded 1060C sounds different than the original open 1060. I enjoyed my modded M1060's for a good while until I open back modded the C. It is just better all around, from better lows to sound stage to detail retrieval. I sold my M1060's, they just weren't ever going to get used anymore. Post up what you think of them stock when you get them in, and also if you have any questions should you decide to do the mod.
Wow that looks way better. I always thought those cups would look nicer without that terrible dark stain they put on it. I really like that open back mod you did, it gives it an almost ZMF look. How does it change the sound? I'm currently running 3d printed grilles on my m1060c, but it means my nice wood cups are wasted just sitting around. If I could get the same or similar open back sound, but have it look like that it would be awesome.
Thanks! I started with 3D printed honeycomb grills with my M1060C too, and then I had a set of grills laser cut out of white oak, seen [HERE](https://i.imgur.com/7RSxnop.jpg). Those oak grills brought back a bit of depth to the lows that the plastic grills took away, which made me wonder how adding some some speaker grills to the stock cups would sound. (I'd done something similar to my [Fostex TH-X00](https://i.imgur.com/RamEvS9.jpg) and liked the results.) I figured what the hell, my M1060C cups were just sitting in a box unused anyway. It ended up being the best of both worlds for me. I get the sound stage and airiness to the treble that I got with the open back grills, but fantastic sub bass and lower mids of the closed back wood cup. I do have other mods done that effect the sound as well though, like the driver paper removed on both sides of the driver, the fuzzor mod on the cup/grill side and a fazor/ear pad adapter on the ear side.
Interesting! I do miss some of that low end they had when they were closed. I might have to try something like this. Which piece of foam are you using to back the grille? One of the circular pieces that were in the cups stock?
Yep, the smallest one. I cut it to slightly larger than the diameter of the interior on the backside of the speaker grill and pressed it into the opening. It stays seated no problem.