Paper Cones in HiFi?

A friend of mine spends a small fortune collecting as many Western Electric or Altec paper coned drivers (515 or 555 or something like that) as he can get his hands on. The cones are so old they crumble if touched. The sound, however, is very lively and articulate when these drivers are used in his full-range, multi-driver designs

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These 1929 Colortura made in Chicago, Telefunken made in Berlin and your friends, WE, 's, EV's, and not to forget Jensen's, all have nice high fidelity midrange. These drivers set the bench mark for high fidelity.

I have tested some new wide bands, found the Voxativ a  bit weak if not worse,,and have stayed with a  line out of china, DavidLouis. 
Female voice very accurate, bass, YES, highs, yes.
4 inch. 
Some stress in midrange/= distortion,,but livable  up to mid vol.

larryi2,563 posts08-03-2021 3:53pmYou can find many examples of current drivers that are very expensive that utilize paper cones--AER, Feastrix, Fostex, and G.I.P. come to mind.

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As in Voxativ
Employs super thin papyrus paper, My tech badgers me all the time**You did not hear the Voxativ set up in a  proper horn cabinet...***. well true. 
Still , that 12x12x12 cabinet  gave me all I want to know.
Tapping on the papyrus (PAPER!) cone,,, its was like no bass whatsoever,,I was thinking,,how in the world is this driver going to go down to low bass??? 
You can tap on a cone and get some inkling of an idea how it will respond to bass fq's. 
We will see how the DavidLouis treated paper cone responds in the 60hz zone.
Drums specifically. 
The Seas magnesium is the best midwoofer ever made for bass guitar. But you will need a  Mundorf SESGO or Supreme Silver to get the results. 
In drums/percussion kettles, Scanspeak wins the prize. 

always thought paper cones were for low end Radio Shack speakers.

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You thought right. 
paper composites will always retain paper characteristics,, 
YUCKKKK in upper bass/low mids

I may be naive or uninformed


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Note all the Wilson reviews. Not even once do they mention Sacspeaks paper composite style sound.
No thanks.
magnesium is superior to paper in upper bass./low midrange.
Seas has magnesium.
Wilson offers Scanspeak paper comp sound.
No thank you.
Lets get real here folks.
No more snakeoil

@gs5556 --

Not true at all. "Paper" tends to denote taking the cheap way out but is in fact a complicated mess of fibers, polymers, resins etc., engineered for light weight (has to react quickly), high rigidity (prevents deformation) and longevity. Paper's been a proven performer for decades - only recently have things like Kevlar and metal cones been introduced, and while they have advantages and disadvantages over paper, they alone do not make a speaker high end by virtue of their properties.

Very well put.