How much does a Zobel network and its components affect the sound of speakers?

A zobel affects the behavior of the filters. So while it is not a high or low pass filter per se, it may be needed to ensure the behavior of the surrounding components.


I find using a decent film cap is useful. Be careful going from an electrolytic to film though, as you may be altering the total effective series resistance.

" If they impart no sound character, why have some people commented about an improvement in exchanging components of the same values? "

There are places in a crossover circuit where the characteristics of the components matter more than others. The Zobel is among the less critical locations in the circuit; in contrast, the series capacitors are quite critical.

Just my opinion, but "my speakers... can occasionally sound edgy, particularly noticeable with voices at higher volumes" sounds to me like a much bigger issue than can be addressed by exchanging Zobel parts, especially if their quality is high to begin with.

Duke

The edginess is minor and infrequent and not an issue I'm particularly concerned with. I mentioned it in passing. I brought up the Zobel network as a possible simple and inexpensive performance tweak, like a duplex outlet. The edginess I cited occurs typically with specific recordings and likely is related to transfer or mastering.

Rereading my initial post, I se that it was misleading. If changing the networks could eliminate this minor issue, I would be pleased, but I'm not expecting it. What I'm looking for is a little more body, relaxation and air.