Wow. I highly doubt the 500 GBP cost of a Foster woofer customized for AN is fair price. It's certainly not what AN pays for it. There are 500 GBP woofers made that are in speakers costing more than 60 thousand bucks I've heard that would make the AN E (as great as it is) sound like a crappy sony Boombox (okay slight exaggeration, but still). Though I don't know for sure, I suspect the 500 GBP woofer reflects the price AN puts on it, similar to when Paradigm charges 60 to replace a driver in the Monitor series.
Which AN model has a 500 GBP woofer? I would love to hear this, I doubt any AN dealers in Atlantic Canada carry this.

The cabinets of a speaker should definitely not impart a timbre to the sound like a guitar or musical instrument. This would undermine the speaker design. These are two different physical characteristics.

If the MDF version sounds inferior to the wood version, than it is not because of the cabinet material. MDF vs. a good wood should have minute difference is sound quality at best, if any. There must be something else at play, my guess is in the crossover or drivers particularly in a speaker that size. The damping factor has infinitely less to do with the difference between MDF and birch (ie: material) as it would the dimensions, bracing and construction of the cabinet. I doubt AN would reveal their true secrets to you or me.
Their success could then be more easily copied by knock-off designs (which I'm actually seeing more of)

Adding extra bucking magnets is the most common modification I've seen OEM woofers have done to them to differentiate from the retail line. A very inexpensive mod that doesn't even always translate to improved performance. Peerless, Vifa, Scanspeak, Seas do this all the time. Can provide for a woofer to move more air though.

Building a speaker comparable to one you can buy from AN, Paradigm, etc can usually be done at far significant savings if you have time and skill.
If not, a fair price is dictated by the consumer who pays for the finished product. I cannot build a Solid State power amp, nor an integrated so I pay Adcom, Rotel, etc a huge premium. And I'm happy to do this.

Just curious guys...we're all babbling aimlessly here it seems, is there an issue at hand, or a moderator that should be keeping us on track? Is there any question outstanding or disagreements here? Or just a light hearted discussion to pass the time?