I have been looking at different driver materials and in the past I have found poly to be a bit over damped and "wooly" sounding. Some untreated paper can be a bit harsh if not properly designed. I was looking at Visaton and Arum Cantus. I am not familiar with their Aerogel or Visatons treated paper cones (almost plastic looking). How do they sound? I like woofers that perform well in the lower mids.
I find treated paper can be very good. First thing i do when modding paper come drivers, a thin coat of ModPodge.
dave
dave
The 'sound' of various cone materials has been debated many times, but anything can sound harsh or 'woolly' if not handled well in the crossover; e.g. crossed too high or low, or the cone's natural resonances are not dealt with well. The nicest sounding drivers I've used are Dayton Reference composite paper/kevlar/fibreglass mid woofers, with the crossover designed by someone who really knows their stuff.
Geoff
Geoff
Yes.
While there are general properties of specific materials, but one has to consider each driver based on how it actually works. Consider that there are literally thousands and thousands of paper formations. The shape of a cone makes a difference. The metal cone Alpair 7.3 has the “generalized character” of paper, the paper cone Alpair 7p like a metal cone is generally considered to sound.
dave
Yes, I think, if you regard the cone as a transmission medium, at the higher frequencies, you get ripples which spread outwards as the voice-coil deforms the cone. The shape of the cone will have a significant effect on this - including the ratio of transverse to longitudinal waves in the cone material (maybe?).
In order to get the most docile cone behaviour at the higher frequencies, attention needs to be paid to the resistive damping of the surround (and also of the connection between cone and voice-coil) - both of which need to match the cone's characteristic impedance (ideally). Most surrounds are low in damping, because they need to be as compliant as possible in order to support operation at low frequencies. Not exactly ideal.
Cone shape also has bearing on the interference effects you get as sound waves are propagated in the air across the cone surface.
It's always a wonder that cones sound as good as they do!
In order to get the most docile cone behaviour at the higher frequencies, attention needs to be paid to the resistive damping of the surround (and also of the connection between cone and voice-coil) - both of which need to match the cone's characteristic impedance (ideally). Most surrounds are low in damping, because they need to be as compliant as possible in order to support operation at low frequencies. Not exactly ideal.
Cone shape also has bearing on the interference effects you get as sound waves are propagated in the air across the cone surface.
It's always a wonder that cones sound as good as they do!
Ha ha I was thinking the same think. There have been wonderful advances in technology in electronics but its much slower with drivers.
We are due for a breakthrough!! Lol~!
I have some Visaton W200S and W130S drivers with the treated paper cones. They both sound good well into the midrange, the 8" is crossed over around 2500 Hz. The W130S could easily double as a midrange driver. I'm not sure what if any effect the cone treatment has on the sound, it may be mostly for durability.
It does increase durability, but i use it to bond the top layer of paper fibres together to reduce cone self-noise. Goes a ways to improve DDR.
dave
dave