2. speakers
  3. 130257-68346

Looking for input: Best material for mid range cone

I had a surprise last night when I switched speakers in my system.  I've got a few pairs, but had been listening mainly to some Ascend Sierra 1, which have a polypropylene cone with a soft dome tweeter in a bookshelf design.  Anyway, I've got a pair of Tannoy Precision 6.1's, and swapped them in.  

The sound was noticeably different.  Piano sounded better, vocals had a finer quality as well, and the whole sound seemed a little more lively.  Now the Tannoys have silver interior wiring, a titanium tweeter in a coax design and are only rated for 75 watts. The cone material is some kind of pressed paper fibre.  And they are voiced to somewhat push the midrange.  But the sound was compelling.

I'm just wondering about cone material because some old Paradigms with Polypropylene were really not up to snuff, but they were quite old.  Any thoughts?
213runnin
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 

my favorite speakers use ceramic-sandwich mid-range drivers. it’s very light and stiff, and i have found that it’s speed and transparency mates well with ribbon tweeters for a one-piece sound.....and a seamless mid-range-tweeter is super critical to my ears.

other driver materials seem to miss my preferred proper balance of ’life’, ’detail’, and ’tonal purity’. either they are too up front, too hard or too dull sounding. these are subtle things but for many years i’ve found my personal sonic viewpoint best with ceramic.

like any driver type, getting the most out of the ceramic mid range requires adapting it properly as it’s so transparent it can ring and such if not executed with great care. it’s not plug and play. but it’s ceiling seems to be higher when done right.....to my particular ears.

YMMV, my 2 cents, and all that stuff.

Post removed 
ctsooner
2,480 posts
 
Implantation is what it's all about. Been discussed already and it's nearly impossible to say no to, lol.  That said, I think if implemented properly, many of today's materials that weren't available years ago, can and do often sound better than the materials of yesterday. That will constantly be the situation. Even Ribbons are now using better materials to achieve better results IMHO.  I was never a ribbon guy, but I've heard some nice ones recently that don't make me want to walk out of the room after a half hour of listening.

It's all personal and as someone stated in the beginning of this thread, there is no one right answer or wrong answer.  My favorite speakers are using a carbon fiber sandwich with a balsa wood core for the stability etc... while some others like others.  Just like anything else, it's personal.  

The one material I WILL say is outdated is a pure paper cone that isn't treated.  It will sound different depending on the moisture in the room.  It really does.  
bigfeller's avatar
bigfeller
3 posts
 
That's a loaded question as it depends on way too many factors. On a 3-way I prefer a 4-5" pulp cone for low mid as long as it is fully crossed over by 1200-1400 hz. I like the natural timber and tone of the pulp cone.  Electrostatics are nice for upper mid on up. Remember the early 70's SAE's with the electrostatic panels for mid and HF. They used a 4" between the 30 lb. Gauss woofers (Ceramic coated 12" pulp woofer cone with 17 lb magnet!) and the stats that was as thin as tissue paper with something added to the pulp that made them quite stiff. AR had a really nice  spider-less 2 1/2" paper cone in the AR12 that was strong and imo better than the dome in the ar10 and ar11. Some of the 2"-4" domes did work well. Got to love the choices.
fusian
129 posts
 
The wood that my viola is made from, is the best material.

IT SOUNDS JUST LIKE AN ACTUAL VIOLA! ;)
More to discover