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 most vehicles. This buying guide covers 6x9 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 audio industry from the best stereo receivers to the best 6x9 speakers that you see featured below. 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.
In this article:
- 5 Best 6x9 Speakers
- #1 Best Overall: Kicker 43DSC69304
- #2 Best 4-Way Speakers: Rockford Fosgate P1694
- #3 Best 3-Way Speakers: Infinity Kappa-93iX
- #4 Kenwood KFC 6996PS
- #5 Alpine SXE-6926S
- 6x9 Speakers Buyers Guide
- Our Review Standards
- Frequently Asked Questions
5 Best 6x9 Speakers
#1 Best Overall: Kicker 43DSC69304
The Kicker 43DSC69304 is a 4-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 6x9 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 in., 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.
Our Rating: 4.8 out of 5
Key Features
- EVC technology
- High-sensitivity DS motor
- PEI dome tweeters
What Customers Are Saying
The Kicker 43DSC69304 has nearly 2,200 customer reviews on Amazon. 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.
#2 Best 4-Way Speakers: Rockford Fosgate P1694
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 6x9 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 6x9 speakers have an impedance of 4-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.
Our Rating: 4.6 out of 5
Key Features
- Flex Fit Basket design
- Integrated concealed crossover
- Butyl rubber surround
What Customers Are Saying
Nearly 900 customers have left reviews on Amazon for the Rockford Fosgate P1694. A whopping 80 percent of reviewers rate this full-range speaker a perfect 5 stars while a measly 3 percent of reviewers rate it 1 star. Most customers were generally pleased with their purchase, proven by the 91 percent of reviewers who rate these aftermarket car speakers 4 or more stars.
#3 Best 3-Way Speakers: Infinity Kappa-93iX
The Infinity Kappa-93iX is our review team’s choice for the Best 3-Way Speakers on the market in 2022. These 6x9 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 6x9 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.
Our Rating: 4.4 out of 5
Key Features
- Plus One woofers
- Audiophile-grade inductors
- Edge-driven dome tweeters
What Customers Are Saying
The Infinity Kappa-93iX has just shy of 500 customer reviews on Amazon, many of which are positive. In fact, only four percent of reviewers rate this car audio system 1 star while eighty-one 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.
#4 Kenwood KFC 6996PS
With a recommended power of 150.0 W RMS with 650.0 W of peak power, the Kenwood KFC 6996PS is an incredibly powerful 6x9 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 6x9 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.
Our Rating: 4.2 out of 5
Key Features
- Diamond array pattern on woofer cone
- Acoustic Sound Harmonizer
- Features two super tweeters
What Customers Are Saying
Approximately 350 customers have left reviews on Amazon for the Kenwood KFC 6996PS. About 75 percent of reviewers rate these car audio speakers a perfect 5 stars while only 3 percent of reviewers rate these speakers 1 star. A vast majority of 90 percent of reviewers have little to no issues with this speaker system and rate it 4 or more stars.
#5 Alpine SXE-6926S
The Alpine SXE-6926S is rated at 45 W RMS with a peak power of 280.0 W. These 6x9 speakers have a nominal impedance of 4 ohms with a frequency response of 40 Hz. to 20 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 6x9 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.
Our Rating: 3.9 out of 5
Key Features
- One-inch silk dome tweeter
- Poly-mica cone with rubber surround
- One-year manufacturer’s warranty
What Customers Are Saying
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 92 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.
6x9 Speakers Buyers Guide
All 6x9 speakers are not made the same. 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 6x9 speakers.
Different Types Of Dome Tweeters
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.
- Synthetic films: This classification of materials includes mylar, polyimide, and PEI. This type of material is resistant to humidity and extremely light. This type of material is a good choice for low-powered systems because it doesn’t require a lot of power to drive effectively.
- Textiles: The most common type of textile that you’ll encounter on tweeters is silk. This type of material is designed for high power handling and it tends to sound warm, mellow, and refined.
- Metals/blends: Aluminum is the most common type of metal that you’ll see a tweeter made from. This type of material is light, strong, and produces a bright sound at high frequencies.
Component Vs. Coaxial Speakers
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.
- Component: This type of speaker is made up of a separately mounted woofer, tweeter, and crossover. Component speakers tend to be more advanced systems than their counterparts and also provide better sound quality.
- Coaxial: This type of speaker is designed with two-way speakers, tweeter, woofer, and single crossover built into a single speaker assembly. This type of speaker is exceptionally popular as it’s not only cheap but high-quality.
Our Review Standards
To select the five 6x9 speakers in this review, our team searched Amazon and Advance Auto Parts for top products, looking at factors like customer ratings, price, superlatives, and Prime shipping eligibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good 6x9 speaker?
Any of the 6x9 speakers that are featured in this article are good speakers. However, we named the Kicker 43DSC69304 as the Best Overall 6x9 speaker on the market in 2022. Brands such as JBL, Pioneer, and Polk Audio are also some of the best available.
What is a good RMS for 6x9?
A good RMS for 6x9 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.
What’s the difference between 2-way and 3-way speakers?
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.
