Well, I had to purchase some new hario filters (my wifes parents have been kindly shipping them to me from Japan-she is Japanese-but I have been burning through them lately) As I had to actually purchase them this time myself, I was forced to decide if I just wanted to get a metal one instead. I decided to stick with the paper for now, mostly because of one time costs, but also because all the videos I have seen of barista champions, etc, always use paper. Is that just a rule for a competition or something, or is it that they generally just feel they make the best tasting cups with paper filters, or am I simply wrong?

Metal and paper produce different end products. It depends on what you are looking for. There are many shops that use metal filters either for flavor or sustainability reasons (or both of course). It's totally a matter of personal preference.

When the Kone was first introduced by Coava, there was a lot of talk about sustainability and using metal filters in brewing. I remember stopping by Coava in Portland 2013 during the SCAA expo and being impressed that one barista was pouring two Chemex / Kone batches at once. I loaned my Gen 1 to a local shop to play with (Red Berry when they were near City Hall in San Jose) but I don't think they ever adopted it for production (though I know that they tried it out themselves). I think that it complicates production due to the cleaning requirements, paper just seems to be much easier to deal with in a cafe, especially since not everyone is prepared for a bit of sediment in their cup. I think this also happened with siphons here in the states, I feel the heyday of this method in cafes has also passed for the most part. Heck, my favorite local Chromatic Coffee (Red Berry moved to Los Altos which is a bit out of the way for me now) has switched from V60s to Clevers for consistency purposes and I know that there's even quality focused cafes that have embraced carefully controlled batch brewing with good results to be able to serve consistently good coffee.

As for competition, I know that the metal Aeropress filters have been well represented (they're also easier to clean) but not sure about the larger metal filters that you'd use in a V60 (the Kone does fit) or a Chemex.

For myself, I'll use my Kone (Gen 3 these days) when I'm brewing at home, but if I'm taking it on the road to someone else's house I'll use the Chemex papers to simply cleanup and stay out of the packed kitchen.

Paper also filters out coffee components that can adversely impact cholesterol. Metal filters are prized because they don't filter out coffee oils, enhancing flavor. Like others I suggest trying both ways and seeing what you like.

The effect of espresso drinking on cholesterol

Paper-Filtered Espresso and Cholesterol

Aaron Ultimo had used the Kone and a paper filter at the same time in his shops in philly. I think it was to speed up the flow rate and still keep the clean profile of the paper. They might still be doing it there.

yakster wrote:...I think that it complicates production due to the cleaning requirements, paper just seems to be much easier to deal with in a cafe...

When we lived in Milwaukee, I asked the shops about this. Most of the baristas who were familiar with the KONE preferred the cup, but it comes to "time available." Pour and toss wins rather than dumping and scubbing.

For myself, I'll use my Kone (Gen 3 these days) when I'm brewing at home, but if I'm taking it on the road to someone else's house I'll use the Chemex papers to simply cleanup and stay out of the packed kitchen.

I am with Chris. I am so accustomed to the mouthfeel and cup with the KONE that my whites gather dust. I made a cup yesterday afternoon with a Melitta white and was disappointed.

Well in the future i will try to get a metal variety, though i think the lone is out of my reach for the moment. Still reeling over the tamper purchase and new greens on the way

However it is interesting to hear your opinions. I am, frankly, surprised metal isn't used in all competitions, so am still not sure why as it seems like it should taste better logically... (The sediment argument has always seemed silly to me)

I don't know of any cafe locally that does, the emphasis is on flavour clarity.

Genuine question: how does extracting the oils allow for better flavor clarity, wouldnt it just be reduced flavor?

You may be confusing the result of filtering sediment with the filtering of oils. Sediment would impair flavor clarity.