News

Oct 16, 2023

5 Best 6x9 Speakers (2023 Guide)

Aidan Pounder is a Motor1.com product tester who has written reviews spanning

Aidan Pounder is a Motor1.com product tester who has written reviews spanning from car insurance to rooftop cargo boxes. He regularly traveled both cross-country and internationally for cycling throughout his youth, having been awarded multiple state titles and podiuming at national championships across several different disciplines of the sport. He spent his more formative years under the hood of a car making sure he could get to his next bike race and knows the best way to secure all of your gear out on the road. His reviews have appeared in major automotive digital publications such as HotCars and Motor1. Aidan brings road trip know-how and a touch of DIY spirit to our team. If he's not burning through the clutch on his 2003 Ford Focus Zx3, you’ll find him keeping up with the latest happenings in the world of European football.

Reviewed By: Charles Noyes

One of the best sounding 6×9 speakers at a high volume.

A high-end 6×9 speaker with exceptional build quality.

A high-quality 6×9 speaker with audiophile-grade inductors.

A great 6×9 speaker with exceptional power handling and price.

A quality 6×9 speaker complete with one-year warranty.

If you’re looking for the best listening experience while driving, then you’ll need to ditch the low-end factory speakers that come preinstalled in your vehicle. This buying guide covers 6×9 speakers at both extremes of the product's typical price range to provide a complete picture of your speaker options at various price points.

While our team of experts is more familiar with automotive-related topics and products, we do have a few resident audiophiles on our team. We’ve covered everything in the auto audio industry from the best car speakers to the best subs. For every type of product we review, our team hopes to provide well-researched information and unbiased recommendations to give consumers the best possible purchasing experience.

All 6×9 speakers are not made the same, and it is important to understand the purpose of 6×9 speakers before making your purchase. Speakers vary immensely from the way they’re set up to their material makeup. We recommend fully researching and understanding the different types of materials used in speaker construction as well as the different speaker systems available before purchasing new 6×9 speakers.

Dome tweeters are the most common type of tweeter that you’re likely to encounter. However, there are three different classifications of materials that are used to construct dome tweeters which are explained below.

There are two main types of speakers: component and coaxial. Each type of speaker has its own merits and drawbacks, which will be duly discussed below.

To select the 6×9 speakers featured in this buyers guide, we consult our network of experts for their thoughts on car speakers. These experts have over 100 years of combined experience in aftermarket auto fields ranging from detailing to accessories to tires, and everything in-between. These experts helped us identify the qualities that would be most important to someone looking for a 6×9 speaker and the standout brands in each category.

Our team then combed through dozens of resources such as DIY mechanic and auto enthusiast forums, manufacturer and car speaker-specific websites, instruction manuals from manufacturers, and reviews from online retailers. We pay particularly close attention to quality reviews and recommendations that highlight the quality of warranties, customer service support, build quality, materials, and overall reliability.

We also factored in the quantity and quality of online retailer reviews from websites such as Amazon, RealTruck, Advance Auto Parts, and more. We looked at factors such as notable customer reviews, prices, meaningful superlatives, and discount shipping eligibility. We did the research so you don't have to.

Since 2020, we have published over 200 auto product reviews in an effort to make shopping for auto products easier. Our team of writers, editors, researchers, and product experts collaborates to thoroughly vet top products. We try to perform in-house testing on real vehicles whenever possible before making our recommendations.

When testing is not feasible, however, our aim is to make your life easier by doing all the online research for you and presenting that research in the form of easy-to-read product comparisons and buyers guides, rather than outright recommendations. For more information on our testing methodology and how we evaluate every product, check out our methodology page here.

The Kicker 43DSC69304 is a 4.0-ohm speaker that has power handling of 360.0 watts peak power and 90.0 W RMS power. This speaker from Kicker's D-Series features extended voice coil (EVC) technology, 0.5-inch PEI dome tweeters, and UV-treated foam surrounds. The tweeter magnet is made from neodymium while the stiff polypropylene cone can hit low bass notes with no tweeter protrusion. Additionally, this speaker comes with a one-year manufacturer's warranty, making it one of the best speakers on the market.

These 6×9 speakers feature a high-sensitivity DS motor which is designed to deliver increased volume, whether you use a factory head unit or a high-power amp. These coaxial speakers have a mounting depth of 3.25 inches, meaning you won't need to worry about drilling into your car door to mount these speakers as they’ll fit in most vehicles straight out of the box. It should also be noted that you won't need mounting hardware to fit these speakers in your vehicle.

Amazon Review Score: 4.7 out of 5 based on over 2,800 ratings

The vast majority of customers are pleased with these coaxial speakers as 92 percent of reviewers rate them 4 stars or higher. A total of 80 percent of reviewers rate this set of speakers a faultless 5 stars while only 2 percent of reviewers rate them 1 star.

Including grilles, mounting hardware, and OEM adapter mounting plates, the Rockford Fosgate P1694 comes with everything you need to get your sound system up and running. These 6×9 speakers feature a PEI dome tweeter with built-in crossover and injection molded mineral. All of which fills out a polypropylene woofer cone with a butyl rubber surround to provide high output and accurate frequency reproduction.

These 6×9 speakers have an impedance of 4.0 ohms and a frequency response of 60.0 hertz to 24.0 kilohertz. These speakers feature an integrated concealed crossover to ensure the right frequency range is sent to the proper driver for the best quality sound. The Flex Fit Basket design of the speakers means you can slightly adjust the mounting of the speakers in your vehicle.

Amazon Review Score: 4.6 out of 5 based on over 1,000 ratings

A whopping 79 percent of reviewers rate this full-range speaker a perfect 5 stars while a measly three percent of reviewers rate it 1 star. Most customers were generally pleased with their purchase, proven by the 90 percent of reviewers who rate these aftermarket car speakers 4 or more stars.

The Infinity Kappa-93iX is our review team's choice for the Best 3-Way Speakers on the market in 2023. These 6×9 speakers feature Infinity's patented Plus One™ woofers that provide tight and robust bass without sacrificing treble balance. The Plus One woofers are made from glass fiber which is exceptionally light yet stiff, meaning increased low-frequencies output and high efficiency. Additionally, these 6×9 speakers have an impedance of 2.5 ohms.

These speakers are voiced by audiophile-grade inductors and capacitors for clear sound production. Edge-driven dome tweeters have oversized voice coils to produce smooth highs with increased thermal power handling for those who love to blast their music at full volume. In terms of power handling, this speaker has 110.0 W RMS and 330.0 W peak sensitivity.

Amazon Review Score: 4.6 out of 5 based on over 600 ratings

Only four percent of reviewers rate this car audio system 1 star while 79 percent of reviewers rate this car stereo system a faultless 5 stars. The general consensus from customers is that this is a high-quality speaker as 91 percent of reviewers rate it 4 stars or higher.

With a recommended power of 150.0 W RMS with 650.0 W of peak power, the Kenwood KFC 6996PS is an incredibly powerful 6×9 speaker. For full sound coverage, these speakers include drivers such as woofers, midrange, tweeter, and two super tweeters. Kenwood's Acoustic Sound Harmonizer featured in these speakers controls woofer sound waves to produce a smooth and natural sound.

These 6×9 speakers have a polypropylene woofer cone with a diamond array pattern. The diamond array pattern minimizes distortion while rubber surround ensures these speakers are long-lasting. The unique shape of the tweeter acts as a sound field enhancer as it creates strong frontward sound with a wide sound field in higher frequencies.

Amazon Review Score: 4.6 out of 5 based on over 400 ratings

About 74 percent of reviewers rate these car audio speakers a perfect 5 stars while only three percent of reviewers rate these speakers 1 star. Eighty-nine percent of reviewers have little to no issues with this speaker system and rate it 4 or more stars.

The Alpine SXE-6926S is rated at 45 W RMS with a peak power of 280.0 W. These 6×9 speakers have a nominal impedance of 4 ohms with a frequency response of 40.0 Hz. to 20.0 kHz. This coaxial speaker's woofer is made from long fiber natural pulp while the tweeter is composed of mylar. The woofer magnet and tweeter magnet are both constructed from barium ferrite.

The 6×9 speakers have a mounting depth of 68.0 millimeters and a sensitivity of 92.0 decibels. This pair of speakers features a one-inch silk dome tweeter and a poly-mica cone with rubber surround. It should also be noted that these car speakers come with a one-year manufacturer's warranty that covers defects of materials and workmanship.

Amazon Review Score: 4.7 out of 5 based on around 75 ratings

Although this isn't the most well-reviewed set of speakers with only around 30 reviews on Amazon, customers are generally pleased with these speakers with 94 percent of reviewers rating the product 4 stars or higher. Furthermore, 90 percent of reviewers rate these speakers a faultless 5 stars, while not a single customer has left a 1-star review.

Brand

Speaker Type

Cost

Kicker 43DSC69304

Coaxial

$85

Rockford Fosgate P1694

Surround Sound

$110

Infinity Kappa-93iX

Woofer

$125

Kenwood KFC 6996PS

Auxiliary

$77

Alpine SXE-6926S

Coaxial

$45

Adding 6×9 speakers can be one way to improve the sound quality of your ride, but there are a few things to keep in mind. First is that many 6×9 speakers are too large for the doors of most daily drivers, so you may have to consider a speaker enclosure. Additionally, even the best 6×9 speakers for bass won't rival a decent subwoofer. Still, they can help round out your vehicle's EQ.

Any of the 6×9 speakers that are featured in this article are good speakers. However, we named the Kicker 43DSC69304 as having the Easiest Installation on the market in 2022. Brands such as JBL, Pioneer, and Polk Audio are also some of the best available.

A good RMS for 6×9 speakers is around 100.0 W. The higher a speaker's RMS is, the more powerful it will be. So, if you have several heavy-duty amplifiers and subwoofers then you might need speakers with a higher RMS.

The main difference between 2-way speakers and 3-ways speakers is that 2-way speakers have 2 drivers and 3-way speakers have 3 drivers. Woofers and tweeters are 2-way speakers’ drivers while mid-range, woofer, and tweeters are the three drivers of 3-way speakers.

*Data accurate at time of publication.