Hi all i was just wondering if there is any benifit of putting 6x9 speakers in the rear of a tl as i have 2 12"subs in the boot and was wondering if they would drown out the speakers ? Any input would be appreciated thx.

Not really worthwhile to be honest. The stock speakers should provide plenty of rear fill. Front speakers definitely need more attention

I was always told just have 6's with subs. 6x9s without. The extra tone the 6x9s put out is pointless if you have the sub providing it already. I'd just get a decent set of 6's and an amp to run them if you really want to replace the rears

Instead of explaining I will quote this FAQ from a Shop in Sydney called "FHRX" these guys are true professionals, they are unmatched when it comes to the quality of their work, on top of that their website is full of useful information aswell.


It seems there are few debates in the known world larger than the one concerning the humble 6x9" speaker. Now depending on which side you're on (as there seems to be no middle ground these days), 6x9's are either a little nuisance that you'd rather have sitting far in the rear of the car or better still, on the road behind the car, or you cannot even contemplate a life without them.

Lets begin with some basics. 6x9's are oval shaped speakers aptly named because they measure 6 inches by 9 inches. There are slightly different versions measuring 7x10, 4x6 and 6x8 on the market but let us concentrate on the daddy of the group. 6x9's are more often than not three or four way drivers (that is; three or four speakers in one unit) and comprise of a 6x9 woofer, smaller mid-bass (or two) woofer and a tweeter mounted on a bridge over the main woofer. They are commonplace in many different factory audio systems right over the world.

But I have heard so many conflicting opinions…
Now you might have heard hi-fi buffs recommending against using 6x9's in high end audio systems whilst recommending them for every other type of system. There are actually numerous pro's and con's of 6x9's and there are reasons why they're avoided for high budget systems and targeted for low budget systems and factory upgrades.

Lets look at the cons first.
The first issue is the actual cone size. The large woofer cone is a different width to length so it is obviously uneven. When viewed under a microscope the woofer cone can physically distort quite dramatically and hence, disastrously so far as sound quality is concerned. They tend to distort more than round or square speakers where kinetic forces are evenly exerted across the cone surface. Another big problem faced by 6x9's is one similarly faced by co-axials. The woofer is seated directly underneath the midrange and tweeter. While this doesn't bother the average tweeter because they're sealed in most cases, it can cause great stress and problems for the midrange which is trying to play a higher frequency than the pounding a woofer underneath. More often than not midrange clarity tends to suffer and can sound blurred as the woofer underneath wins every time. Simply put, 6x9s are not dedicated drivers. They do not offer the same freedom for fine tuning nor do they faithfully reproduce sound like separate components do. They do their job competently but will never match a separate subwoofer for bass reproduction, or separate woofer for mid-bass reproduction or tweeter for high end reproduction because these drivers are dedicated to reproducing their own little part of the sound spectrum and they do it well. Components can also be mounted separately to help with staging and imaging.

But they must have some pro's.
They do. As stated above the cone on a 6x9 is exactly that, which incidentally is nearly the same surface area as an 8" subwoofer. With their relatively high power handling, the 6x9 can punch out quite a bit of bass and they can even be run in enclosures to enhance this ability. Another big bonus of the 6x9 is their power handling ability and efficiency. They can be run off the smallest internal (head unit) amplifier to the largest external units. Because of this ability they make terrific upgrades to factory systems where a little more bass is required. On that note, they will also fit into many factory locations without the need to cut anything up.

Expense. Time. Space. Money. Say it how you will, 6x9's are a hell of a lot cheaper than lashing out on a large external amplifier, sub enclosure, subwoofer and splits. And they will take up a lot less room too incidentally. At the end of the day 6x9's make an excellent addition to budget systems and make terrific factory upgrades because they do a little of everything quite acceptably. They are very good drivers for beginners and people looking for a little more of everything but lets be realistic, they won't keep the staunch audio buffs satisfied for long.

Agreed 100% with the above.

I used to swear by 6x9's in my early days as they added a lot to the sound of the system, 4 budget speakers while won't sound as clear as 2 good ones, will go just as loud.

Then I bought a set of good 6.5 inch splits for up front which output the same ambiance as the 4 did previously, having cheaper 6x9's in the rear actually made it sound far worse.

In the 380 I have 2 subs and 2 6.5 inch splits and it sounds great.

In the wagon I'll be powering the front 6 inch 3-ways and rear 6x9's off a headunit (the extra speaker helps make up for lack of amp), running only mid-high, then having subs for bass.

Thanks for the feed back it helped me heaps i think i am just leave my system as it is.I have 6.5" pioneer splits up the front and a 2din pioneer touch screen with the 2 12" subs in the boot and a pioneer mono block amp which sounds good cheers again.

I have upgraded 6x9's in the back and on their own they sound great, but I have to run them with a HPF to cut bass below 100Hz as I'm running a sub also. With out the HPF it just muddies the bottom, mid bottom sound. For sound quality, definately running a quality pair of front splits makes a bigger difference, sub in the back. In this instance 6X9's are used only for a bit of fill so stock 6X9's would suffice.

I have upgraded 6x9's in the back and on their own they sound great, but I have to run them with a HPF to cut bass below 100Hz as I'm running a sub also. With out the HPF it just muddies the bottom, mid bottom sound. For sound quality, definately running a quality pair of front splits makes a bigger difference, sub in the back. In this instance 6X9's are used only for a bit of fill so stock 6X9's would suffice.

I paid $200 for my kicker 6x9's and honestly, I didnt notice that much difference.
I have my stereo faded to my component fronts (like anyone would) anyway so honestly they are working half assed 99% of the time anyway..
Not worth the money in my opinion, unless your running no sub.. then maybe? :)

I paid $200 for my kicker 6x9's and honestly, I didnt notice that much difference.
I have my stereo faded to my component fronts (like anyone would) anyway so honestly they are working half assed 99% of the time anyway..
Not worth the money in my opinion, unless your running no sub.. then maybe? :)

There was a big difference with the Infinity kappas that I installed in the rears. Much clearer and more punch down low. But in the end you are right in that the front splits are much more critical for driver/front passenger sound quality. The rears are more for the back seat passengers and not really needed for driver/front passenger when used with a sub & like you I have them faded down also.