Hi Na8c,
The real wood veneer is applied by hand in our custom shop and hand-finished, unlike the vinyl "wrap" which comes pre-applied to the MDF (medium-density fiberboard). Because custom real-wood veneer application is very labor-intensive, it costs more and there is a wait of some weeks, because each order is custom-assembled for the customer.
The price will vary depending on the choice of real wood veneers (cherry, walnut, rosewood, etc.) and the finish desired. High gloss finishes require many coats of finish, which is why they cost more than satin or semi-gloss finishes.
The reason that 95% of speaker manufacturers use MDF as the base material for speaker construction is because it is, as Mojo pointed out, one of the most acoustically inert materials available and is very consistent from one sheet of MDF to the next. Before the emergence of MDF as the ideal material for speaker enclosures, the next best alternative was plywood, because it is composed of laminated layers of different wood and glue, which makes it stiffer and less susceptible to resonances.
If we used actual planks of real wood for construction, you would have increased problems of acoustical resonances (vibrations) that would vary with each type of real wood, even within the same wood stock, so trying to brace it and cancel the resonances would become a manufacturing and testing nightmare for each speaker.
Loudspeaker enclosures are the opposite of musical instruments like acoustic guitars, violins, 'cellos, violas and double basses, where the vibrations of the strings cause the wood to resonate and amplify the tones created by the strings (the latter tones are transmitted to the body of a violin or guitar by the bridge that supports the strings.)
In a loudspeaker enclosure, you do not want the box to vibrate or resonate, creating spurious sub-harmonics or vibrations which would then taint or "color" the original sounds emitted by the loudspeaker. A loudspeaker box is not a musical instrument and should not contribute or generate acoustic output from its side, rear and front panels.
Regards,
