The archtop voice is rooted in several build-formula variables, primarily the arched top/back, carved vs pressed, and the bracing (parallel vs. X). Materials seem to matter as well (maple, mahogany, or walnut backs seem to have distinct qualities). But bracing seems to make a good bit of difference, with parallel-braced designs producing the cut/projection valued by big-band players and X-braced designs producing more sustain and a sweeter (for lack of a better descriptor) voice.
"Modern" designs combine X bracing with variations on the classic spruce-over-maple all-carved combination of classic orchestral archtops. I have a 17-inch archtop built by Tom Crandall for his own use, with the Benedetto book and old Epiphones as his guides. What I think he was aiming at was a chord-melody acoustic instrument with a fuller voice than, say, the average L-5. (Extraordinary L-5s don't count.) The result was X-braced redwood over walnut with a distinct classic-Epi look and a voice that can switch effortlessly between chunking rhythm and fingerstyle. It's sweeter than my Eastman 805CE (X-braced spruce/maple), which is in turn sweeter than my classic '46 Epi Broadway.
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