Best Loudspeakers for Rich Timbre?

pulp and paper cones are outstanding - beautifully damped, stiff and light weight. They must not be driven in to breakup - so the operating bandwidth is less than more rigid cones.

Hmm... I think you’ve got that backwards. It’s extremely rigid/metal cones you don’t want operating near their breakup as they tend to be rather brash about it. I can’t off the top of my head think of any manufacturers that crossover metal midwoofers into the 3kHz^ band, however, many do it with paper and plastic cones.

I agree with helomech.  Paper & pulp cones may breakup smoothly relative to rigid/metal cones.  I didn't know that paper & pulp cones had a limited bandwith.  Many full range and coincident cone speakers use paper & pulp cones.

Well I don't know what is in the water at Revel but the new 228be has aluminum/ceramic drivers and they are resolving and musical,  and they have ported bass and it is very articulate with zero port noise or hump. Very impressive. 

It's not necessarily the midbass that produces rich timbre and warmth. It's the 200Hz-250Hz range. Reduce energy there by making it flatter and or dipped and the speakers will sound like absolute trash. The market is filled with anemic audiophile speakers. And they sound edgy and boring and unengaging. 

This is why audiophiles seek out speakers that have larger cones, or cones made out of paper, or more resonant real wood enclosures. Larger cones also help reduce some energy in the 3kHz range giving a bit of that good old BBC dip. 

I would personally stay away from Samsung built Revel line. 

@invictus005, I agree that ’The market is filled with anemic audiophile speakers. And they sound edgy and boring and unengaging’. This can also apply to some very expensive designs too.

Also, "This is why audiophiles seek out speakers that have larger cones, or cones made out of paper, or more resonant real wood enclosures". How could I not agree, having owned Tannoys for the last 10 years?

However, I would go further and say  that for a loudspeaker to reproduce timbre accurately, (ie not lose it via the cone materials / crossover issues or smother it under cabinet resonance ’mush’), it must have excellent handling of harmonics.

The fact that a speaker usually needs two or more drivers separated by a crossover to cover the audio band can only make the task of reproducing timbre accurately incredibly difficult, especially when considering things happening on a harmonic level.