Paper Cones in HiFi?

Magnesium is some sort of super damp, yet extremely accurate bass/upper mids. 
sens is a  bit low at 87, 
Better go W18EX or even better W22EX,,or even more cash W22 Graphene, wow factor off the charts.

DavidLouis is alos sharing spot light with the Seas.
The lil Kasun paper tweet 91db sens, ain't no joke either.
Throw in Mundorf's Silver supremes, and = best bang for the speaker buck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI5TZ4KCE_Y

I will have issues with the Wilson line, I know it. 
I never like a midrange in a  speaker. And the Wilson's will only confirm what I already know.

Hehehe. Well, for mid-woofers some of the best drivers on earth are the ScanSpeak Revelator/Illuminator lines. They are pretty advanced though, using a sandwich/resin technology, but essentially paper.

You’ll find these in several Wilson models, among others.

There are also some afficionado’s of the paper tweeter/midrange, but probably not me. :)

It’s not just about the materials. You can make both excellent and also very very bad speakers out of a lot of different materials. The design of the motor, suspension and integration with the overall design matter a great deal.

Personally aside from paper I’m generally a fan of composite materials (SS Revelator included) such as resin/Kevlar, the Focal W and resin/fiberglass. You can make some incredibly light and resonance free drivers this way.

One free piece of knowledge I got was from a slide from Focal, on how they sold their brand.  Consumers like you want modernity.  The idea that new = better, so many brands will sell you on that alone.  Modernity without necessarily an audible benefit, or different but not better. 

It takes a very confident audiophile to buy a bargain. :)

It takes a person who judges sound quality by dollars to buy a bargain!  :)

Then, they will pretend they have the "best" sound. It's how budget HiFi works.  

Mozart….just a bit of effort on your part will reveal that Vandersteen builds unique balsa core, carbon fiber and aluminum honeycomb ( sub ) cones for integration into Scanspeak bespoke frames and motor assy, including unique to Vandy aerodynamic structures. 

A partnership with Scanspeak that spans decades…

You may on self reflection discover that this post is not really a reply to you…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2pvz6RDBCE

Paper vs Balsa C/F with the ruthless truth machine German laser…

Listen and measure…or wander randomly

With loudspeakers, it's the total design and how the parts are utilized to achieve the designer's end goals whatever those maybe focusing on one aspect of a transducer's design is moot. 

Scanspeak makes some fairly expensive paper coned woofers.  I don't think they think that paper is crap.  A local dealer that builds its own custom speakers just finished a pair that utilizes 15" paper coned drivers from Scanspeak.  The drivers cost the dealer $2,000 each.  The speaker just came in and the crossover has not been mounted so I haven't heard them playing, but, I will get a chance.  

Every material for drivers; paper, aluminum, kevlar, carbon fiber, nomex, ceramic, magnesium, beryllium, etc.... all have pros and cons.  And incidentally, more people than SEAS and Scanspeak make great drivers.  

Each material has different characteristics that behave differently in different applications.  Paper is not inherently good or bad.  Paper cones are not simple card sock cut into a cone.  The formula is typically a carefully guarded secret and they can deliver elite level performance.  I find the paper drivers I use (Eton's Orchestra) offer a tiny bit of coloration which makes them engaging and incredibly musical. In the right application, paper drivers can simply be extraordinary.  

In terms of accuracy, I agree that magnesium offers some distinct benefits.  I prefer Eton's magnesium driver to SEAS more because it is much easier to work with.  The SEAS is very difficult to get the crossover just right while Eton's Arcosia works with simpler crossovers and delivers and incredibly smooth yet accurate sound.  I actually prefer Eton's paper drivers compared to Scanspeak as well.  But, this is based on my designs and my experience using lightweight but heavily damped cabinet material.  The EXACT opposite of say Joseph Audio or Wilson who are producing high mass cabinets.  

In the end, a speaker is a complete system and you can't take a driver and say it is "the best" without the context of cabinet and crossover.  A great driver in a bad cabinet or with a bad crossover will deliver a bad speaker.  A modestly priced driver integrated with the right cabinet and the right crossover can be insanely good and in the end, it is the complete design that matters.  Individual parts should be taken in the context of that system. 

@larryi --

Scanspeak makes some fairly expensive paper coned woofers. I don't think they think that paper is crap. A local dealer that builds its own custom speakers just finished a pair that utilizes 15" paper coned drivers from Scanspeak. The drivers cost the dealer $2,000 each. The speaker just came in and the crossover has not been mounted so I haven't heard them playing, but, I will get a chance.  

I wonder what the reason is for their 15" driver to be that expensive, and how the sonic results would ever reflect the price positively. I guess that's up to the individual to decide..

Arguments have been made that high efficiency drivers are more expensive due to the smaller tolerances required in the voice coil gap, but there are many great HE pro drivers that, when looking at their typically vastly bigger magnets, voice coils and overall size, compare favorably here to hifi drivers of smaller size and not least (much) lower efficiency. Go figure.

It's telling then that when Scanspeak sets out to make a 15" driver, likely only no more than moderately sensitive at that, the dealer cost is $2,000 (even more for the consumer, I presume). Not to dismiss their efforts prematurely, but that's hifi in a nutshell.

I don't know what sets the price for this particular driver.  It could be that few units are expected to be sold, so the price of developing the driver is being amortized from fewer expected sales.  I believe it is a newer offering.  It could be a speaker intended to fill a particular niche--vintage speaker designs--and the price might be a reflection of what is available in that arena.  I know people who have spent $5,000 to $20,000 each on vintage woofers.  I cannot tell you what I would pay for a perfectly match pair of 18" Goodman woofers.

The dealer said that it is 95 db/w efficient, so it is not a very high efficiency unit like many vintage woofers.  Still, this would work well with modestly powerful tube amps.

The dealer said that it is 95 db/w efficient, s

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
95!!!!!! db sens,, in a  15 incher,,WOW, = $2k from a  Scanspeak = bargain. 
One of those guys + a Seas W16 Graphene  + a  Seas Crescendo = blows anything from Wilson's  in all shootouts. 

I just got the DavidLouis 6.5 wide band. 
For under $500,  this driver looks stunning,
The paper is soem sort of composite and has kick to the tap of my finger,,, 
Waiting for tech to open shop tomorrow so we can get the DL wired up N running/YT vid tomorrow.
I am expecting stunning results,, 
Some tech geek over there in china knows  how to make a  wide band.
This guy is a  speaker guru genius. 
The Vox I had  will not stand up in any fq's to this materful designed wide band from ~~China~~
Yeah I know, how often have I emphatically stated here,,~~China can not make a  speaker~~, I am eating those words. 
Beats the Seas wide band  in all fq's as well.
I've been cking every inch of the driver for 1 hour, and am amazed at the contsruction/design. 
I do not think there is  wide band  in current production that will beat it in any shootout in any fq range.
The lil 4 incher is extremely accurate in vocals. Has bass puch and highs that do not roll off til say 12k region,
FOUR INCH wide band doing it all!!!
I'd put this 6.5 up against anything from Feastrex/AER, Voxativ.
Let me say this, although the Vox did not get its required horn cabinet, Vox will have to come up with alotttt more than what I heard  with their AC1A  demo in a   12x12x12 inch /1/4 inch plywood test cabinet.
Vox/AER has many models, so i can not say  how the shootouts will do down. 
Then again, @ $450, I could care less if Vox/AER/Feastrex blows away the DL. 
But again, the shootout might just be close ORRRR
The DL6.5  might come out last speaker standing at speaker shootout at 
~~The Old OK Corral.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAFNVCXk93Y

18 year old original post...  

now we have a mozartfan that ruins every damn thread he participate in and no mods do anything about it
farewell audiogon

Pretty much like a speaker company that starts with "W" uses $65 mids in their 6 figure and above speakers.

Stinky, if you mean Wilson, please note the model. All the mids  and midwoofers I've seen from them were top end ScanSpeak.

"Let me say this, although the Vox did not get its required horn cabinet, Vox will have to come up with alotttt more than what I heard with their AC1A demo in a  12x12x12 inch /1/4 inch plywood test cabinet."

Mozartfan,
Really not sure how you can accurately evaluate a speakers performance in a cabinet it's not designed for.