what are good shells made of?

[rayn_man]

lots of question marks but I am faced with so many options. I hope some one can help. I was told that mohogany sucks but I used a pearl export for a while and thought they sounded o.k. Which makes me think that maple must sound awesome. I would like to invest in a good all around sounding kit. I will be recording more than playing live so it doesn't have to be pretty. So here goes.

what types of wood sound good? mohogany, birch, maple.
How many ply? what should I be investing in? why?