# Best among ribbon vs polypropelene vs laminate bicarbonatespeakers



## gopi_16 (Mar 9, 2013)

Which one sounds better among the cone in speakers


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

gopi_16 said:


> Which one sounds better among the cone in speakers


If you are referring to cone materials, it matters little, if at all. More important is that the driver is not pushed beyond it's capabilities, exceeding Xmax/Xmech or operating near Fs.


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

I'm not exactly sure what your asking. Could you give us a bit more info as to what you are considering?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

tesseract said:


> If you are referring to cone materials, it matters little, if at all. More important is that the driver is not pushed beyond it's capabilities, exceeding Xmax/Xmech or operating near Fs.


Agreed, there are many high end speakers that use paper cones that sound fantastic. I have high end EVs with 12" paper cones made 30 years ago that still sound as good as they did new. I think the bigger issue is what the surrounds are made of, foam will deteriorate over time rubber lasts much longer.


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

Tony wrote:



> Agreed, there are many high end speakers that use paper cones that sound fantastic.


Agreed. Paper is actually one of the best materials to use. 

I think it boils down to the way the ribbon integrates with the cabinet/crossover/woofer/cabinet. It's all about the design & integration of the parts with each other & the enclosure.


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## gopi_16 (Mar 9, 2013)

Tonto

The question of all the materials used for cone if the speaker, which one sounds best.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

gopi_16 said:


> Tonto
> 
> The question of all the materials used for cone if the speaker, which one sounds best.


Unfortunately you wont find an answer to that question because they all sound best to the design they are implemented in. They all have their ideal use and in the end things like the basket design, cabinet and crossover all play a huge part in what sounds best.


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## petmotel (Sep 13, 2013)

Cone size, mass, and stiffness are the important properties in determining the suitability of a cone for a particular driver. 

Driver design is far more complex than just picking a material that "sounds the best", it is more an exercise in meeting the design parameters required of the particular driver in a speaker system. Size, mass, and stiffness are all variables that may be altered regardless of the material used to suit the frequency range desired.

A ribbon driver obviously doesn't use a cone. It has a much higher power to weight ratio, as the ribbon, which is the only moving component in a true ribbon, has an extremely small mass as compared to a conventional dome/voice coil style of tweeter. Personally, I much prefer the sound of a ribbon tweeter as compared to that of a conventional dome type.

Jay


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