I own a 6 x 14 stave shell black walnut snare from Salem St Drums and a solid Black Cherry with maple reinforcing rings 5.5 x 13" Craviotto snare and a 5.5 x 14 Kapur shelled Yamaha Club Custom. I prefer the sound of all three of these snares to my maple snares.
The walnut is extremely rich , dark and fat sounding with an extremely wide tuning range. It sounds thicker and richer than maple .
The Cherry Craviotto is incredibly articulate and sensitive, very resonant with more crispness of tone than a comparable maple drum.
The Kapur shelled Yamaha is extremely versatile, it can cover just about any conceivable gig. It is by far my absolute favourite ply shell snare drum. Great crack and very wide tuning range.