Paper Cones in HiFi?

Bobby's response is beautiful as it is both to the point and technically excellent. Then again, he speaks from years of first hand experience in the field of speaker design and manufacturing, so he should know these things. Obviously, he does : ) Sean
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Tang-Band has a full range 4" driver made from bamboo coming out in May.
Qms = 1.499
Qes = 0.484
Qts = 0.366
BL = 4.80
Mms = 3.49 g

Compared to their W4-655sa 4" paper driver:
Qms = 4.35
Qes = 0.35
Qts = 0.33
Electrical Q being more important to damp than mechanical Q. But TB's typical paper Qms is no lower than 2.80. So the bamboo damps very well indeed.

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.