Paper Based Speaker Cone Question

Tannoy uses paper cones.....some believe that the sound of music takes on the properties or characteristics of the material used to construct the cone. 

First consider the question in context….of a true Walsh driver…if you understand how they work the waveform must propagate along the driver surface, so a stiff non pistonic cone is ideal.

in a more conventional box speaker / driver arrangement, IF you want the output to look like the input, you want a pistonic driver.  IF the speaker / driver designer is focused on recreating the input aka music without distortion, they will have to get creative with various exotic materials like aluminum, bextrene, doping, kevlar, carbon, balsa wood, etc…. None of which constitute a free lunch.

The key here is output = input, otherwise you are buying a tone control you like… nothing wrong with that…. Audiophile know thyself….

Jim

Paper can be superb.  I currently use paper cone ScanSpeak midwoofers.  They are a little high tech in that they use a multi-layer, composite resin construction but don't look down on paper cones.  In the Ohm designs I believe that they are needed to break up, deliberately.

Seventeen years ago when i horse traded for a pair of AER BD3 8" paper cone drivers to use in my Oris 150 horns I got a great deal on them.  I certainly couldn't afford to buy them new now since these 8" paper cone drivers list for $11,325.00 a pair plus shipping from Europe and import duties.  They sound wonderful.

Agree that paper and carbon fiber coated paper drivers are outstanding.

I prefer the paper ’sound’ in the midrange especially. Just more natural and organic for lack of a better term.

That said, the current Ohm speakers are sadly just not very good. Plastic/poly driver, diffuse and muffled sounding. Not high end in any area. None worth even $1K/pair. My opinion.

The old Model F was good for when/what it was (given appropriate power), Dale Harder’s HHR speakers are a good updated omnidirectional design as are German Physiks.