How To Make 6X9 Speakers Sound Like Big Subwoofers

If you don't want a large subwoofer taking all the space in your trunk, then as car audio specialists we would recommend you to get a pair of 6x9 speakers. They have great potential to provide subwoofer like bass in your car due to having a large cone area. If setup right, 6x9 speakers can actually sound like subwoofers. Today you will learn how to make your 6x9 speakers sound like subs and you will impress your friends when you show them there is nothing in the trunk.

Here is the secret recipe for transforming your 6x9 speakers into mini subs:

1) Fit the speakers into 6x9 boxes. You can get theses prebuilt in pairs and are made from MDF wood the same material sub enclosures are made from. This will provide greater bass as we have tested this at the shop if compared to drilling a hole in the back parcel shelf and sticking them in.

2) Attach a small mini amp. Most 6x9 speakers are rated around 100 watts rms. Whether its a stock or aftermarket radio its not going to provide that level of power. What you need to get the most out of them is a 2 channel amp that matches the power rating found on the back of the speakers.

3) Set the LPF filter on the amp. Setting this will only send bass frequencies to the 6x9 speakers, they will not play any vocals or voice at all filtering out treble completely.  What you can do is use the front car speakers for vocals and place the 6x9 speakers on the back seats or shelf and use them just for bass. Setting it up this will provide a subwoofer like bass experience to the best possible ability without actually having them installed.

How To Mount Car Amp To The Back Seat

An amplifier is used to provide more power to your external speakers or subwoofers. If its a bass amp its most likely going to be fitted onto the back of a seat since they tend to be long. If its a smaller amp that is used for car speakers or a small sub, then you could have the option to mount it under the seat. The main thing you need to ensure regardless of were you mount your car amp is that there is nothing obstructing it from getting rid of heat. If you listen to your music loud all the time then it will create a lot of heat. You could overcome overheating issues by adding a computer cooling fan. 

1) Ensure that your wires have sufficient length to reach to the car seat and be able to bend back and foward if you move the seat down. The last thing you want is the power wire coming off when you slam it down if you are wanting that extra space.

2) Find a suitable mounting location for the car amp on the back seat. Touch the back with your hand and see if you find were the wood is underneath the carpet. It is usually found in the corners of the seat and in the middle it is just a hollow area.

3) Fold the car sear down, place the amp onto the wooden area and mark up the screws holes using a felt tip pen.

4) Get a drill that matches the diameter of the screws that you are using and drill into the 4 holes that you have just marked up. Now you can make holes by pushing the screw down with a screwdriver but this could cause tiny cracks and splits in the wood, making the surface weaker.

5) Place the amp onto the back of the seat, lining it up with the four holes that you have marked up. Then get a screwdriver and screw each one down onto the back seat. Once you have done this, go over all four quickly to ensure that they are securely fitted to ensure that the amp is not coming off.

How To Make Car Speakers Sound More Clearer

If you have installed a big powerful sounding subwoofer in your car, you also want accurate and clear vocals as well as having thumping bass. Most people that install their car audio system forget about adding aftermarket front and rear speakers to enhance treble. If you want to improve the way your car speakers sound and make them clearer there are a number of things that you can do.

1) Fine tune the car equalizer. If you have an aftermarket headunit that is built by Alpine, Pioneer or Kenwood it will have an adjustable eq integrated into the audio settings. This allows you to adjust the amount of DB based on certain frequencies. You can adjust the full treble range and fine tune your car audio system to get a clearer sound.

2) Use an external Amplifier. The amp inside all car stereo provides a clipped signal at high volumes due to being very insufficient due to its size limitations. Now connecting a small external amplifier, preferable a 4 channel amp will provided a cleaner signal. This means that the car speakers will get their full potential that they are designed for and there will be less distortion at high volume levels. It may take a few hours to install because you have to install the power, ground and RCA wires plus running all the speaker wires to the back but its well worth it.

3) Sound Deadening material. You can apply this in small layers onto the doors to stop any rattles or vibrations that you can get. Not many people consider this but it is a must as it will make your car speakers sound so much better and cleaner. Its easy to install, you simply peel away the bottom half cut it to shape, press it down with a roller and stick it down.

4) Activating the HPF. This is a special filter setting on a car stereo that block subwoofer bass going to the car speakers. This prevents them to sound distorted because they are not designed to play bass and are only meant to be used for vocals. You need to enabled it and set it to 80 HZ as this is the best setting to block of bass for clear sound.