Which material sounds better for speakers construction? Wood, Ply or MDF?

In the late 1970's we made some stands (solid red oak) for the Mark Levinson HQD system in our factory.  He then asked us to make a couple of woofer cabs for the Hartely 24" woofers he recommended for this system.  They were made from 1" particle board rather than MDF, glued and splined, I believe.  It was so long ago I kind of forget, but I believe I remember the looser composition of the particle board when viewed on end.  All internal corners were braced with 4x4 fence posts using glue.  They were then covered with a light wood-grain Formica for looks--remember, it was the 1970's (!). 

The cabs (@ 5'H x 3'W x 3'D I think) weighed enough that a fork lift was needed to lift them once the woofer and hook-ups were installed.  I remember we went to 4" casters so we could move them around the shop.  I would guess the casters came off once they were in place in the listening room.  In this instance, the spec was for particle board as I remember.  Anyone remember these?

As for speakers, sorry to be grinch, but there is no way a cone speaker (except possibly these woofers) in any cabinet made from any material sounds as accurate as speakers that don't use cabinets regardless of the materials or design parameters.  Do not take my word for it.  Put speakers in cabs side-by-side with non-cab speakers and see for yourself, please.

Cheers!

@helomech Thanks for the comment.  I am sorry the 1.7s did not meet your requirements.  I might suggest some agonizing reappraisal, to quote a '70s 7-UP commercial.

As you clearly understand, your ROOM is the most important element in any sound reproduction evaluation.  Possibly your room was not set-up correctly for the 1.7 experiment?  I will admit that this is a real chore and may not ever be right depending upon the room.  I have years of experience doing this and can state that there are some rooms that simply do not sound right with dipole speakers.  So be it!

HOWEVER, you seem to be an open-minded individual, so might I suggest that you give it another go at a dealer who knows what they are doing in their shop and listen again to a comparable model of non-box and box speakers in the shop where they are all set-up correctly?  You might be surprised at the quality of the sound, or not.  The objective, of course, is to make sure YOUR chosen system sounds the way YOU want it to in YOUR ROOM!

Cheers!

@helomech Thanks for the informative reply.  Clearly you have found the items that work best for you in your room and for your musical taste.  As a former dealer, THAT WAS JOB 1 for us!  I suggest the boxless speakers only because we had much success with them and when A-B comparisons were made in our shop, they came out best.  Remember, this was in the '70s-'80's, so life and speaker technology  has improved dramatically since then.  I have seen $200,000 speakers for sale for homes...no comment.  Interestingly, I have noticed that many manufacturers are either raising their speakers on stands or designing them to be 6' tall.  I wonder where they got that idea???

Finally, a listener is NEVER WRONG!!!  You like a, I like b.  If we all liked a, life would be boring and only one company would make speakers, not over 300 at any given time.  I love the hobby for many reasons...some because I am retired from the business!...and respect everyone who is involved from any perspective.  It is a great hobby with music at its core.

All I can suggest is that you find a super-high-end dealer in your area who has the latest 30.7's running in a proper set-up and give them a listen.  Of course they are ridiculously (to me) expensive, but seeking the best and then buying what you can afford that gets you as close as possible is what the hobby is all about, IMO.  I hear you loud and clear that you found better than the 1.7 units.  Possibly the company has heard you as well and has figured out how to fix that--at an outrageous price.  Then again, that is the way of the world.  Race cars pretending to be daily drivers cost a bundle but don't do any better getting you from a to b than cheap cars.  But a prancing horse on your car costs a ton more than a bow tie!  Enjoy the music...

Cheers!