Paper or aluminium

[beerdragon]

I'm looking to buy an Hartke cabinet or two, i guess aluminium being dearer is a better sound. but what exactley is the difference, does anyone prefer the paper cones?

[Buzz]

Or you could get the paper-aluminum hybrids!


/runs

[Dood]

Ah a subject dear to my heart and almost bridging on rant status! lol. Yes, there is quite a difference in tone. It's quite difficult to describe, unless you have heard them. I, as usual will use my favourite Hartke 4.5XL as an example.. but here lies a bit of a problem.. the 4.5XL sounds different to the 410... and both sound very different from the Transporter range.

So using words liked 'scooped' or 'deep' to describe the cones isn't that helpful as I am probably doing a better job at describing the whole package! lol. The top end of the cones is different. The effect as a unit is a clearer top end.. I reckon at a guess round the 4Khz mark, though maybe as low a 2Khz. - This is using my ears.. I have never seen any frequency charts for Hartke speakers.

Paper cones sound different to me.. on the whole I actually don't like them as much, thats probably why you'll see my tweeter tends to be boosted a little on the dial, to put some of that crisp back in. I have heard some Alu cones that sounded a bit weak in the bottom end and struggled to get any volume out of them despite the cab having a 1KW rating. Very disappointing. Sooo, I refer back to the 4.5XL, that frankly eats the Alu competition! - yes yes yes.. its only opinion, but I was very lucky to try out all the major brands in one room, altogether. One thing that paper cones have over ALu cones.. up until recently, is weight and power handling.

Paper cones can handle more abuse than their silvery counterparts... and you are far more likely to find NEO versions, should you have a bad back. However, like Hartke, Eminence have created a NEO Alu' cones speaker. I'd have to look for the model number, but I *think* it was something like CA20xx.

I do however have a paper coned cab, and I am very happy with the sounds it makes. Ultimately, it will be your ears that decide on a cab as a whole, not the speakers in it.. as a crap cab can make any cones sound bad. (taking into account tweeters/ porting etc etc)


Sorry for the ramble.. once again I have just typed without thinking! I'll no doubt go back and edit all the rubbish out LOL!!


[edit] don't let anyone tell you Alu cones are cold and sterile, that really is cr@p, they just sound different!