Why paper and foam? (1 Viewer)

[Dan_D]

Im new to home audio really, but have been involved in SQ car audio for awhile. It seems odd to me that so many home subs and midranges are paper w/ foam surrounds (Tempest, etc). In car audio only the loweessst end speaks were paper/foam, but that seems to not be the case in home audio. I may be due to durability reasons.. in a car theres all sorts of weather changes and sunlight, etc. let me know

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[Patrick Sun]

Yes, the climate in a car is more extreme than in a home (I pity the person whose home climate is more extreme in all seasons year-round), thus they need more robust materials in the drivers for car audio.
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PatCave ; HT Pix ; Gear ; DIY Mains ; DIY CC ; Sunosub I + II + III ; DVDs ; Link Removed

 

[John E Janowitz]

As Patrick stated, climate is the main reason. While new foams and paper composits are much more durable than in the past, the rubber surrounds and poly or metal cones will hold up much better in an automotive environment. The main reason that many of the high end drivers for home use, such as the Lambda woofers, use the paper and foam is because it just performs better. Foam surrounds typically have less extreme resonances than rubber, and can also be treated with a damping material to further control the resonances. Paper cones can be made very stiff and light, much lighter than poly cones of the same stiffness. They can be impregnated with kevlar and other materials to add to the strength. The paper cones are also typically well behaved as far as resonances go, compared to metal cones, and even poly cones. Although many people look at a paper cone driver with a foam surround and think it is "low tech", there are very good reasons for going with those materials in an environment that will allow it.
John

 

[Dan_D]

i gotcha. thanks for the info
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[Dan_D]

can anyone list some high end brands that use paper cones? i believe you guys, but just wanna see some in action

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[Seungsoo Hwang]

*Jesus christ why did I talk about surrounds when the question asked for cones? I musta been tired last night

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[Greg Monfort]

The vast majority of pro sound LF/midbass drivers are impregnated paper.
GM
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Loud is beautiful, if it's clean

 

[Aaron D]

Dan D, my dad has an old set of a/d/s/ home speakers that are paper cones, probably a by-product of being built in the 70's, but they sound REALLY good for their age and (ab)use!!