hispls
5,000+ posts
CarAudio.com Veteran
Yeah, like I said every material has its pros and cons. Metal cones dent but they are stiffer than anything else out there. I love the sound of metal cone woofers and always have, and always will. There's a certain solidity to the sound that you just can't get from paper or poly cones. There's even a technical name for it, although I can't remember, but paper and poly cones have naturally inherent distortion from the cone losing its shape during travel. Metal cones keep their shape under the most demanding circumstances which is why I like them, but for subwoofers only. I don't like the sound of metal cone mids and metal cone tweets are too bright for my tastes, although they are very crisp and detailed sounding.
Anything can last when taken care of. Accidents happen though so it's always nice to know your **** isn't going to break if something happens. And it's not exactly like you can protect your foam surround from the elements, even if they're treated. They are more suited to a temperature/humidity controlled home environment than a vehicle environment.
I think you have no idea what's available for foam surrounds and pulp cones... and if you really believe you can hear the difference between metal and pulp cone in a subwoofer you're delusional.