Hemp Drivers, musicians lov'em, audiophiles?

Are they endorsing the speakers or other items chemically similar to hemp? Perhaps they're a bit ... confused?

the Audio Note hemp drivers are getting positive reviews but, sadly, I do not have a pair...

i use omega compact hemps and a deep hemp subwoofer paired with a cary sli 80 integrated in my 2 channel room and to my ears they sound great

Audio Note also use hemp drivers.

You can not blame cone material for the sound your getting. You listen to a loudspeaker. Not just a cone. But that being said. I have 4 custom built alnico magnet 12in hi-eff woofers with hemp cones in my front horn system. They work great. Hemps just another form of paper.

An electric guitarist will choose an amp/cabinet (speaker) in large part on the way that combo sounds when grossly distorting the signal. This is quite different than an audiophile application. Production vs reproduction can be apples vs oranges

Marty

BTW,

My comment was in no way a criticism of hemp drivers, as I've never heard one. I was just pointing out that Santana's use of this type of driver for performance/recording is no endorsement for that driver in a home system.

Marty

I guess I should clarify what it is I'm trying to ask. Hemp is being used for so many applications these days. I just found out the door panels and dashboard in my '07 MBZ are made of hemp. Chosen for its moldability, strength, stiffness and natural damping abilities as well as its inexpensive cost and availability. These drivers are quite stiff, on the 4 ohm taps they seem to mesh better with the Vifa tweeter that's in there (awesome tweeters BTW), much tighter sound than on 8 ohms, but they still seem very directional and inconsistant. I'm contantly adjusting position, using different port plugs and moving my bass traps around, changing amplifiers and sources too. One minute the music sounds terrific (lots of bass, great midbass and stellar highs, the next I don't even recognize it. It could just be me, my new room is probably one of the worst environments to set up a system in, it may be the room too. But my full range single driver mini onkin crossoverless horns sound phenomenal. They use the Merrill driver that I was going to try replacing with a 5.5" hemp driver that Fritz raves about, he gave me these two ways to try out so that I could get a taste of the hemp sound but I'm not sure I like it. As far as I know I have the only Monitor X pair in existance. For Audio Note to be using them, there must be something there. Maybe Fritz is on to something.

I used hemp products frequently in the 60's and 70's.

They were high performers from what I recall.

Gosh I'm hungry.

They are a perfect match for reggae

[guess I should clarify what it is I'm trying to ask ya you] still need too. So what is it you feel hemp cones are problematic or you feel they are the bomb? You say both. And if you read my post above I answered your question. Cone materials are not what your listening too. You hearing a loudspeaker using hemp cones. If hemp had such a drastic sound quality that it would be easy to hear hemp;) It wouldn't work so well as cone material would it? Its just a type of paper cone your placing to much emphasis on something thats a non issue. For guitar speakers you want break up for audio you do not want drivers to run when breakin up. This is one of the things that cause guitar drivers to sound different they breakup some sooner some later.

Favorite are Hemp model 420s

The speaker does not break up. The amp goes into distortion and you hear it throu the speaker...

Dklk,it sure does and the amp also goes into distortion. From eminences web site for 12in guitar driver with hemp cone [SLOW TO BREAKUP WITH A FAT AGGRESSIVE BASS SOUND WITH SMOOTH WARM MIDS & HIGHS] This ones from another 12in hemp cone [FAST BREAKUP W/ A SUBDUED TIGHT BASS SOUND, SMOOTH MIDS & LOUD HIGHS WITH A BITE] Check out eminences site as well as any site selling guitar drivers.

My understanding is that there is greater variation in fiber size with hemp pulp than with most other types of paper. All else being equal, I think this would have the effect of reducing the Q of breakup peaks (making them wider but not as tall). The net result might be increased smoothness at the expense of reduced clarity, but I'm not engineer enough to say for sure.

Duke
dealer/manufacturer

Musicians lov'em, cuz their smok'in!!!