Paper Cones in HiFi?

Puzzlecoat painted on paper cones can improve the sound. Too much can roll off the highs (relatively speaking, as in causing midrange loss) too much.

Cdc: What makes you think that Qes is any more important than Qms, especially on a "full range" driver or woofer??? I see this line of thinking expressed all the time, yet i can't understand the logic behind it. If this were a driver specifically designed for use over a limited bandwidth where resonance would not come into play at all, it wouldn't be as big of a deal. With a woofer and / or a tweeter, where the resonance does come into play within the audible bandpass of the driver, this is a completely different story.

My guess is that most people don't understand what a higher Qms brings with it, hence the lack of concern in this area. This is exactly why most low frequency drivers, especially "American made" ones, are as poor of a performer as they are. When you start studying power transfer characteristics, transient response, ringing, etc... it becomes apparent just how important a low Qms really is. Combining a high Qms woofer with a vent, which also reduces control and damping, is a sure-fire way to lose all forms of bass definition and transient response. Sean
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Hi Sean, I dunno, that was what I was told. I justified it when looking at total Q. The electrical Q seemed to have a greater impact on Qts than the mechanical Q did.
Anyhow, does this bamboo material driver look like a good choice? It retails for about $35 each. I can't put up response curves but above 14k there is an 8db plateau from 15-18k - that doesn't look very musical or accurate to me.

Cdc: I've got to head out to the ear doctor and then off to work. I'll try to explain why Qms is important later tonight. What i'll have to say is controversial amongst most speaker designers / engineers, but the facts present themselves once one does research on the subject. Even so, many that are rooted in their beliefs refuse to see the light, just like those that told you that it didn't really matter. Sean
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I spent quite a long time typing out a very thorough yet somewhat easy to follow response to the above about Qms, loudspeaker design, resonances, the amplifier / speaker power transfer interface, etc... While attempting to perform another function on my computer, i somehow managed to shut down multiple windows at one time. One of those windows was the Agon post i was working on. Needless to say, i'm quite frustrated and not up to trying to re-do it right now, so it will have to wait. I apollogize for the delay and will try to get to this soon.

As a side note, good news from my ear doctor today. He told me that they can stay on the sides of my head, no need for removal as of yet : ) Sean
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