I stopped on the way home to play the Normans in a local shop. While the web site is not clear on model specs, it appears that the B18's have a cedar top. I found the B18's to suit my ear. The B20.s were beautiful, but too bright for me. Apparently the combination Cedar tops and ??? backs on the B18 works! It has a rich warm tone like sruce w/mahogany and these two had the sweet overtones that seperate the good ones from the rest. I loved them.
IMO - Though not an expert, I find cherry to be as hard or harder than maple. To my knowlegde, cherry is a generic name and it does not come from cherry trees. I think have seen 16+ inch cherry stock with no sap wood, and fuit wods are generally pale white with narled grain. Cherry turns a biy orange even with a clear sealer in it. The Normans have less color than that on the cherry backs,