late to the convo but when I started Verdant, the original plan was to be a speaker manufacturer. We made a couple of well reviewed models but didn't sell. That is not the relevant part.
As part of R&D, I tested different cabinet materials. Ultimately, we tested MDF, HDF, Baltic Birch, Bamboo, fiberglass over a nomex core, carbon fiber over a nome core and a 3D printed nylon with carbon fiber reinforcement.
We made the identical box out of all the materials and then used the same driver and crossover. As materials increased in rigidity, density and damping performance improved.
In order of quality, 3D printed nylon, MDF, HDF, baltic birch, bamboo, fiberglass, and carbon fiber in terms of quality performance and it made a tangible difference that is easily measurable. If crossover was left the same, the amount of treble you get out of the less rigid boxes decrease dramatically. To get similar treble output you had to decrease resistance to the tweeter effectively turning the volume up making the speaker sound brighter and less pleasant as it integrated more poorly.
That is, same drivers, same crossover, identical cabinet volume if the crossover was voiced for the CF version of the box it will sound like I taped a sock over the tweeter in an MDF box.
This was a simplistic test but illustrates the point that cabinet materials really matter, At a root level, the fiberglass and CF panels I used are designed for sound damping in the transportation world and are designed to reduce noise inside planes and helicopters. They are low mass so don't store a lot of energy and resonate at a high frequency that is less audible. High mass cabinets take a lot more energy to excite but this energy is at a lower frequency and causes a lot of sonic smearing.
There are lots of variable that can help mitigate this. I was using relatively low mass tweeters from Eton in my test and they were easier to excite as they are like 12ozs in weight. A SEAS millennium is like 2.5 lbs so a lot more energy is required to cause the same lever of distortion. Combine that with say the Joseph Audio crossover and you get an excellent performing speaker in a wood box. Its mass allows for better performance. It will fall short of a more advance design like a Wilson Benesch monitor but it will be 1/3 to 1/6th the price.
A thicker baffle made of the same material as the box does a bit to break up those vibration but changing material and say seating mid-range and tweeter in an aluminum insert will do more to break that up. Note this is what Tidal and Linn do. Or better yet, a baffle made of a different material like Audiovector makes a huge difference as the energy transfer is less significant.
The answer is, advanced materials can make an enormous difference. Whether it is worth it to you probably depends on your ability to financially absorb the incremental cost which is significant. I could have an MDF box made for about $200 each including veneer. The cost of a CF box was $1100 and paint was something like $750/ box and this was 6 years ago. It did not get cheaper in that time.
