The stock Yamaha YH-100 sounds like it's under water to me. Once I put those drivers into a properly damped Donut housing the transformation was nothing short of amazing to my ears.
Not only was there no veiled, layed back quality, but I'd actually characterize them as a bit forward sounding. Also crystal clear and extremely smooth sounding, so I have to think that better damping would change the character of your pair Monkey.