The classic 6×9 deck mount speaker has been the most popular choice for great-sounding automobile sound systems for many, many decades now, and there are a frankly astonishing number of different companies making this hyper-popular speaker.
If choosing the best 6×9 car speaker for your own needs, and for your own car, is a bit confusing – overwhelming even – you’re not alone. In fact, we here at Speakergy get more questions about this than almost any other audio product, and so we have put together this all-new 2023 buyer’s guide for the best 6×9 auto speakers.
We will talk a bit about what you should look for in your new 6x9s and how to find the best brands and the best products, and then we will offer our own top picks – 8 fantastic 6 by 9-inch speakers for cars, trucks, SUVs or other installations that sound fantastic, are well built and durable, and offer excellent value – from the (surprisingly affordable) premium level all the way down to some (surprisingly nice) ultra-cheap choices.
If you’re in a hurry and want to cut right to the chase, here are a few of our top picks:
- Best 6 x 9 Car Speaker Overall: Rockford Fosgate T1693 Power 6″x9″ 3-Way Full-Range Speakers
- Our Favorite 6×9 Car Speakers: Rockford Fosgate P1694 Punch 6″x9″ 4-Way Full Range Speakers
- Best Value 6×9 Car Speakers: CERWIN VEGA XED693 6 x 9 Inches 3-Way Coaxial Speakers
What Should You Look For in the Best 6×9 Speakers?
Whether you are looking for speakers for your car, truck, SUV, or even custom DIY home installation, there are certain things that are pretty important to consider, like:
Sound Quality – the most fundamental thing, but just be careful to get a speaker that doesn’t only blow you away when you first hear it, but one with low distortion, high accuracy, and musicality that will be just as impressive, fun, and engaging in a few years as it seems now.
Material Quality and Durability – there’s nothing worse than really falling in love with your new speakers, only to have them fail within a few weeks or months. But the best auto speakers are made to withstand high volume and lots of power, as well as the physical shock and special conditions they will encounter when mounted in either open or closed vehicles.
Ease of Installation – even the most intrepid DIYer can get pretty pissy, cussing and throwing tools like a baby (I’m not saying this from personal experience, of course!) when supposedly standard speaker baskets don’t fit, or woofer magnets are deeper than specified, or contacts won’t reliably hold wires, to name but a few. But well-designed auto speakers not only claim to be easy to install, but are actually a breeze, and you’ll be rocking down the highway in no time!
Series Availability – you may not think of this now, but down the road, if you want to add more speakers, like 6.5s in the doors, it is nice to know that not only is the company still in business, but they offer a whole range of speakers that are electrically and acoustically the perfect companions to your 6x9s.
You may also want to consider how much power your new speaker needs, or can handle, but rest assured that all of our choices will play plenty loud and sound great even with the preinstalled dashboard stereo system’s amp, or with a smaller add-on amplifier, and can also handle epic amounts of power – if, of course, you can!
We do not recommend, however, that you focus too much – or at all even – on published specifications. They are way too unreliable, inconsistent and confusing, and the apparent lies and easy exaggerations many companies seem glad to offer will eventually make you eventually lose faith in humanity.
In our experience, printed numbers about frequency response, efficiency, distortion, power handling, and other specs are almost never a true reflection of how a speaker, or almost any audio product, will actually sound, and anyway, the best brands and the best manufacturers tend to be very conservative in their claims.
Which leads us to the obvious question – who are the best brands and best manufacturers of 6 by 9-inch speakers?
Who Makes the Best 6 x 9 Car Audio Speakers on the Market Today?
It’s funny how simple and predictable the answer to this question is! We opened this article talking about how the classic 6×9 has been the speaker of choice for so many decades, and now we can easily say that the best companies today are the same ones that have been loved, respected, and counted on for so many decades.
This makes internet shopping a little bit easier, because while you will find a gazillion products from brands you’ve never heard of, with incredible claims about frequency response, sound quality, reliability, and technology – and often scores of apparently genuine customer reviews backing these claims up – you can always rely on certain companies to offer the same quality, reliability and great sound they have for years.
These companies feature heavily in our list of best six by nine speakers, and include:
- Cerwin Vega (founded 1954)
- Infinity (founded 1968)
- JBL (founded 1946)
- Kicker (founded 1973)
- Pioneer (founded 1938)
- Rockford Fosgate (founded 1973)
- Sound Storm Laboratories (founded 1997)
Ok, that last date isn’t that long ago, but we have to say that SSL is really impressing us with their quality, inventiveness, and integrity, and for usually pretty absurdly low prices.
Anyway, just the fact that a company has been around forever isn’t necessarily a guarantee that they will make good products, and often the opposite is the case, but these seven brands continue to bring brilliantly innovative, incredible-sounding products to the market at reasonable prices.
And to make it even easier, we’ve narrowed it down to a few really special selections from their lines – the 6 x 9 speakers we feel are truly the best of the best at all price levels
So let’s get right into it, with Speakergy’s top 8 choices for the best 6×9 speakers available now.
The Best Six by Nine Speakers in 2024
Best 6 x 9 Car Speaker Overall
At a Glance:
- Speaker Type: 3 Way
- Frequency Response: 50 Hz – 22 kHz
- Power Handling: 100 watts RMS: 200 watts peak
- Impedance: 4 Ohms
- Mounting Depth: 3.39 inches
This Rockford Fosgate 6 by 9-inch three-way speaker is just awesome in its power and musical energy, and equally impactful in the deep bass it is capable of, even without subwoofers.
A very high-efficiency speaker system, 1692 will play loud with very little power – even a standard factory stereo will make them really blast! – but they also can handle tons of power and big amplifiers, for an almost overwhelmingly powerful and energetic listen.
But it’s not just power and deep bass that makes the T1693 our top pick – they are a true Rockford Fosgate product through and through, with clear and undistorted high frequencies with enormous amounts of detail, and a midrange – including vocals – that has a sweetness and realism which makes all kinds of music sound perfect.
Amazing imaging, real dynamic energy even at lower volumes, tonal accuracy, and presence, all combine with all the other traits to make this one of the most engaging cars or truck speakers we’ve heard.
Throw in the legendary Rockford Fosgate build quality and long-term reliability, and you have a clear winner, and for our money the best 6 x 9-inch automotive speaker on the market today – a truly premium product that might not be as expensive as you think!
Our Favorite 6×9 Car Speakers
At a Glance:
- Speaker Type: 4 Way
- Frequency Response: 50 Hz – 22 kHz
- Power Handling: 75 watts RMS: 150 watts peak
- Impedance: 4 Ohms
- Mounting Depth: 3.07 inches
Even as great of a bargain as our top choice for 6×9 speakers – the Fosgate T1693, just above – is, and as incredible as it sounds, there is something so exciting and likable about its little brother, this Rockford Fosgate P1694 Punch, that it actually ends up being our favorite.
For almost a third less money, 1694 is even a better value and has a very similar sound signature – deep, fast, and really exciting bass, smooth, accurate midrange, bright and detailed highs without a touch of harshness, and overall a kind of fun and engaging sound that is so typical of Rockford Fosgate, and a great example of why they’ve been so dominant in the car audio business for 4 decades.
No, this less expensive speaker won’t go quite as deep as its top-of-the-line sibling, but it has a kind of, well, “punch” – just like its name indicates – that really sets it apart, and makes any music really move. And while it won’t handle quite as much power, this amazing speaker will still absolutely blow you away with its dynamic impact and excitement, and by just how loud it will play!
A rich, sweet, and musical speaker that is at the same time clear and wide open, the Rockford Fosgate P1694 Punch is a really accurate high fidelity product, and a really fun speaker to listen to. It is also a very high-quality product that will last for many years – easily our favorite 6×9 inch automotive speaker system, and an amazing value.
Most Powerful Sound
At a Glance:
- Speaker Type: 3 Way
- Frequency Response: 45 Hz – 21 kHz
- Power Handling: 300 watts peak
- Impedance: 2 Ohms
- Mounting Depth: 3 inches
Selecting the best high-power 6×9 speakers can be a bit tricky, since almost any 6 by 9 speaker system on the market is designed and engineered to have plenty of impact and lots of volumes, and they all claim to be powerful performers.
Thing is, so many car or truck speakers (present company excluded, of course) can maybe handle tons of amp power and will play really loud, but don’t always sound that great – especially over the long haul. They can sound edgy, flat, and blunt, with a kind of harshness that makes listening unpleasant and fatiguing.
And again, none of our picks will have this problem, and they are all great to listen to at any volume, but one particular speaker really stands out in this regard: the intense and exciting JBL GTO939 three-way 6 by 9, a highly efficient speaker that plays loud with even stock stereo systems, and will absolutely blow the doors off with the right amp.
But the GTO939 also has very low distortion and a rich and musical sound which makes it sound really great not just for a few minutes, but also for extended listening sessions, day to day and year to year.
And this great sound – so powerful and so listenable – comes through with all kinds of music – yeah, they absolutely rock and are a thrilling listen with most popular music like rock, metal, EDM, rap, and hip hop, but they have a warm and accurate quality which also makes symphonic music, jazz or even solo piano so powerful and will keep you absolutely riveted.
And the power is not just about how loud these 939s will play, but also their audiophile-level reproduction of micro-dynamics and the subtle cues in volume and energy that make music more alive and realistic, more interesting, and, again, more engaging.
A purely powerful speaker that encourages and rewards active and extended listening, the JBL GTO939 three-way six-by-nine-inch speaker system stands apart, and when you factor in the well-known JBL material quality and reliability, and the beautiful and highly functional design, it becomes a real no-brainer!
Most Refined Sound
At a Glance:
- Speaker Type: 3 Way
- Frequency Response: 46 Hz – 20 kHz
- Power Handling: 150 watts RMS: 300 watts peak
- Impedance: 3 Ohms
- Mounting Depth: 3.0625 inches
It is true that all of the speakers we’ve covered so far in this survey of best 6x9s on the market today are great for all kinds of music, but it’s also true that they all favor popular genres just a tad – C&W, rock, metal, electronica and dance music, rap and hip hop.
The Infinity REF-9623ix could almost be said to be just the opposite – a speaker that is definitely powerful, and can bring electric and electronic music alive, but favors the more “refined” genres like jazz, classical, and even singer/songwriter and acoustic music.
The remarkable proprietary edge-driven cloth tweeters are a big part of why these Infinity reference speakers have such warmth and musicality, such an ideal balance between smoothness and accuracy. In fact, while a JBL, a Pyle, a Kicker, or a Pioneer speaker may have more apparent detail on the high end, it could be argued – and, in fact, often is – that the Infinity reproduces just as much high-frequency information, but with a little more ease and a little less bite, and is more truly an audiophile speaker system.
But again the Infinitys can also rock! The woofer cone is also a unique design and offers speed and detail on the low end that makes an electric bass guitar or kick drum have a real slam and reach to the depths of a full symphony orchestra, a pipe organ, or a stand-up double bass with ease and agility. No, not the wow factor of some of the others, but again maybe a bit more accurate, and definitely just as deep.
A remarkably refined high fidelity product at an amazingly low price, the Infinity reference series REF-9623ix is a well-made speaker system that is easy to install, has adjustable tweeter levels, can handle tons of power, and should easily offer many years of beautiful listening – very highly recommended!
Easy to Install
At a Glance:
- Speaker Type: 3 Way
- Frequency Response: 30 Hz – 20 kHz
- Power Handling: 90 watts RMS: 180 watts peak
- Impedance: 4 Ohms
- Mounting Depth: 3.25 inches
No, we didn’t select the Kicker D series speakers just because they are easy to install, but even more so for that unmistakable Kicker sound – deep, punchy bass, crisp and clear high frequencies, detailed and realistic mids, wonderful balance overall, and a smooth, sweet and non-fatiguing sound quality even at high volumes.
At the same time, these tough and powerful speakers are particularly designed to be fully compatible with almost any car, truck, van, or other vehicles without drilling or refitting. They have huge and strong woofer magnets and yet still only require 3.25 inches of depth, and the brilliant PEI dome tweeter is designed for maximum dispersion in all vehicles while fitting behind pretty much any factory-installed speaker grills.
But again, it’s the sound that really sells these Kickers – not just a huge upgrade from the speakers included with your car, but a truly next-level sound quality that is hugely energetic and exciting, incredibly accurate and realistic, and sounds good at any volume. And that bass!
For well under a hundred dollars a pair, these Kicker DS 6 x 9-inch three-way speakers are surprisingly tough and durable as well and can handle plenty of power without worry – and without harshness or distortion. Overall a great choice for ease of installation, for its exciting and engaging sound, and for overall quality and value.
Best Bass on the Cheap!
At a Glance:
- Speaker Type: 4 Way
- Frequency Response: 22 Hz – 24 kHz
- Power Handling: 100 watts RMS: 325 watts peak
- Impedance: 4 Ohms
- Mounting Depth: 3.38 inches
The first thing I noticed with the Pioneer TS-A6977S 4 way speakers is their amazingly deep bass – and not just ultra-deep, but with a kind of speed and impact we might normally associate only with premium automobile or home subwoofers.
There is not only absolutely amazing bass weight, but actual resolution and accuracy, with details and tonal characteristics all correct and clearly discernible – so if you’re a bass-head these affordable Pioneers will be way, way more than satisfying, but if you are also a bit of an audiophile, the awesome bass foundation actually leads to an overall sonic picture that is not just well-integrated and right, but almost eerily realistic as well.
Of course, it helps that these are not just the best 6×9 speakers for bass, but that the mids and highs are all in order as well, and with their extremely smooth, detailed, and sweet-sounding midrange, tweeter, and super-tweeter drivers the Pioneer A series 6 x 9s have that realism thing going all the way up and down the spectrum – not to mention a brilliantly involving and fun listening experience.
It should not go without saying that these speakers are built to Pioneer’s legendary standards, and offer superior material and build quality, as well as high power handling – and they will play loud with both small and large amplifiers with very low distortion and no listening fatigue.
But while that’s all good and fine, for some of us it’s really all about the bass – and in this respect, the Pioneer TS-A6977S 6 x 9-inch four-way speakers are absolutely awesome!
Best Value 6×9 Car Speakers
At a Glance:
- Speaker Type: 3 Way
- Frequency Response: 50 Hz – 18 kHz
- Power Handling: 50 watts RMS: 350 watts peak
- Impedance: 4 Ohms
- Mounting Depth: 3.4 inches
For around a fifth of the price of our top choice in this list of best car audio speakers, these Cerwin Vega XED693 3 way 6 by 9 speakers have way better sound than you could possibly imagine.
For one thing, these Cerwins are 6×9 speakers with deep bass – really deep bass – that offers a truly visceral slam with well-recorded tracks of the right kind of music – and, to be fair, is pretty darn incredible with all kinds of music and all levels of recording quality.
And while other cheaper speakers with more complex configurations – 3 way, 4 way, or even more-way – can often sound artificial and inconsistent throughout their frequency range, the TS-A6977S actually has an amazing coherence and a smooth, realistic sound that is consistent even as it moves from woofer to midrange and tweeter.
And, like the woofer, the Cerwin Vega midrange and tweeter drivers are pretty amazing tech – a low tolerance, high precision midrange cone with exceptionally low distortion and real warmth and presence, and a really special balanced metal dome tweeter that provides unbelievable detail and sweet and easy sound quality.
Maybe the most amazing thing about these affordable 3 way speakers is that they sound so fantastic, so energetically exciting and so right, with any kind of music. If I listened exclusively to electronica, rock, or rap, I wouldn’t hesitate to get a pair of these Cerwins, and would be thrilled with them, but this is equally true with jazz, classical and acoustic genres, and this is an ideal choice for people with wide and eclectic tastes in music.
With typically high Cerwin Vega quality in materials, construction, and long term reliability, as well as an intelligent design intended to give the best, most full, and immersive sound in any size or type of vehicle, the Cerwin Vega XED693 6 by 9-inch 4-way speakers are a sure bet for pretty much anybody, and the best value we’ve found.
Best Super Cheap 6×9 Car Speakers
At a Glance:
- Speaker Type: 2 Way
- Frequency Response: 65 Hz – 20 kHz
- Power Handling: 250 watts peak
- Impedance: 4 Ohms
- Mounting Depth: 3.31 inches
As our last pick on this 2023 buyer’s guide to the best 6×9 inch speakers for autos, we enter into the realm of “almost too good to be true” with the Sound Storm Laboratories EX369 – a frankly excellent pair of speakers for almost no money.
For just under thirty dollars for the pair, we might not expect these speakers to offer much improvement over the speakers that came with your car, but in fact, they are not just a huge step up – even from a lot of premium vehicles’ installed speakers – but a fun and exciting speaker system that has its own style and sounds great with all kinds of music.
Sound Storm speakers don’t seem too interested in wowing us with space-age materials, high tech features, or outlandish published specifications – in fact, the manufacturer’s specs are quite conservatively claimed, and the simple polypropylene woofer and dome tweeter are not fancy, or particularly expensive to make, but are strong and durable and offer surprisingly good, honest sound.
But it is a sound that is also fun, energetic, and has a lot of impacts, with deep bass that is not as extended as more expensive speakers but still quite excellent, and not overly exaggerated or bloated like it is with so many cheap products. The mids and highs are similarly accurate and detailed, without distortion or added emphasis, and with presence and sweet musicality that is remarkable for the price.
Super easy to install, and designed to work well with the acoustics and physical layout of a wide range of cars, trucks, vans, or SUVs, these Sound Storm Labs CG693 6 x 9-inch car speakers are the perfect choice for fantastic sound and high quality on a tight budget.