Stuck on cabinet color

I would not get light colors. When I listen to speakers
the brighter colors can be distracting and annoying
especially if the sun or a bright light shines on it;
there could be glare, too.
Darker wood is always my preference and better for resale,
too.

I confess to caring about visuals, certainly including speaker finish. My speakers are in my living room, so like it or not, they are part of the furniture in my main living space.

Like Notec, I find birdseye maple appealing, but I agree with the general sentiment here that it is much too light to blend well into many rooms.

If you are dealing with a small manufacturer, one fun possibility would be to see if they would let you supply your own veneer. Certainly Wood (http://www.certainlywood.com/) has an incredible selection, and they are very helpful. My guess is that for most speaker sizes, the added cost would not be that substantial, depending, of course, on the veneers selected. After consulting with Oprah, I settled on the Figured Walnut, which is interesting without being obtrusive, and I have been quite pleased. John

Shadorne is correct IMO regarding maple's visual characteristics. In most domestic interiors, maple provides a higher contrast with it's environment. Thus, it looks more conspicuous. I disagree as to it categorically being "not a good idea." ( An obvious statement if you look at my system :-). These sorts of judgements are subjective, otherwise interior design wouldn't offer such disparate examples of taste as one sees going into any good furniture gallery. I totally agree with Markphd, in modern and transitional settings, maple can work very well. I do think you have to be of a mindset that you want to celebrate the physical presence of your equipment if you choose maple, it's not a "blend with the background" kind of wood.

Maple works best on speakers with low impedance/sensitivity and of course solid state amps.

If you're using tubes, a dark color is always the choice.

Good luck.

I like speakers with Cryo treated grill cloth.