I was recently looking through my Sweetwater Pro Gear catalog and noticed a drum set. This is not my usual area of concern but still this set caught my eye. It's called the Reference series by Pearl. The idea is that instead of using a single wood to make a set of drums, they would pick woods that suit the particular drum best. they actually use combination woods setup specifically for the right sound of whichever drum it is, for instance the 10" tom shell is a 2 ply birch-4 ply maple combination. The kick has a 6 ply mahogany-2 ply maple combination.
I'm not really here to talk about this cool drum set, but rather what it got me thinking about.
I hear a lot of guys talking about their preference for wood in their speaker cabinets. I've heard from many that Baltic/Russian Birch is the indisputable best wood for speaker cabinets. I've also heard that Pine is just outstanding. I can differences between the woods, but I'm certainly no connoisseur. I was thinking it would be cool to apply some experience and science and come out with speaker cabinets for guitar amps that somehow can be voiced more toward a specific genre (perhaps a bluesy sounding wood combo for a blues deluxe amp with a bluesy speaker, etc.) Do they have anything like this now? I haven't looked into it that hard.

The whole speaker cab material debate is more about whether the sides and back let sound out, something you want with a open back design. Or don't let much through, forcing the cab to be very directional. Prime for 4x12's and closed back cabinets.

Be very carefull about supposed sonic differences of materials. Speaker type, wear, size and placement. Also cabinet size and angle, play about 99% more in the equation than material used. If you can get those variables exactly the same, then you can listen for differences in cabinet material.

You're right though, 13-ply Baltic ply, or more commonly marine ply is the standard. Pine and other woods are more for visual appeal to my mind.
As long as it's strong and durable, it's good in my book.

_________________
No no and no