A question about 6x9s

[Ceezer 10+ year member]

I'm just toying with ideas right now but here's the deal:

I've got a 97 Subaru OBS with 2 10s in a hatch box in the cargo area. It's backed up against my back seats but that cargo area is already small enough and this box is taking up some of the space. With the seats down to expand the area the box sits right in the way so it's not really giving me any more space.

I've thought about fabbing some rear corner fiberglass boxes for the 10s but they would be forward facing and I worry about damaging them with stuff rolling/sliding around in the cargo area. I'm sure something could be done to protect them (aluminum caging, or such) but I'm wondering about options that would require even less space.

I got to thinking about some of the 6x9s we used to rock in the late 80s - early 90s and how they sounded in comparison to the subs that were at our disposal then. I had a buddy (this would have been around '92-93) who ran 6x9s in his 79 Malibu and I could hear him coming from just about as far away as my buddy running Fosgate 12s (again, this was 92-93 so I don't know if Fosgate means the same now as it did 15 years ago) in his S10.

I know a lot has changed since then about what is expected from a car audio setup but I'm wondering if 6x9s are still a viable option for someone looking to increase space / simplify. Is it possible to put a little power to them for some volume while maintaining some semblance of sound quality?

Just to give you an idea of what it would be accompanying, the front doors house Pioneer TS-A1680R 6.5 4-ways and the rear doors (fill, mostly) contain the 4" version. Head unit is a Pioneer DEH-P7600MP and the amp is a Diamond Audio 4-channel (forget the exact model now)

This may be a lot of information, I hope it makes sense. I would appreciate any constructive feedback.

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[Blinkdogo2 10+ year member]

i dont think its is possible

a 6x9 has less cone area and less excursion so that would equal less displacement ,

then power handling is reduced so thats less force.

now i bet u can get descent bass, but u will need 6x9 that only gets bass notes, u have to cross it over so it doesnt get midrange,, then u need a good enclosure for the 6x9

with a perfect port u could get it to sound like an 8" on a tiny amount of power, the ony way u should go with a 6x9 subwoofer is if u hhave a nice car and need sq and have a perfect rear deck for it.

 

[Ceezer 10+ year member]

Thank you for your response. I realize a pair of 6x9s aren't going to be a direct replacement for my 10s but I guess I gave that impression with the comparison I gave between my buddies. That's not what I'm hoping to achieve. My main priority for now is to try and free up cargo space. I love my bass but if I have to sacrifice it to accomplish this then so be it, I'll put the subs in a project car and try to make up the loss somehow in this daily driver.

Again, I'm just tossing ideas around at this point and playing with options but I was skimming over a couple other threads and saw someone mention focusing on the front and not worrying about rear-fill. 95% of the time I'm the only one in the car so I'm the only one who really needs to hear anything. How well will a good component set be at producing a full range of notes? And I know that this also won't be as loud, deep, or heavy as a pair of subs. These days, though, I would estimate that 80% of my in-car time is spent commuting (I live in Sumter/Dalzell but work in Northeast Columbia) and listening to talk radio (primarilly Sirius Sports 123) to pass time so I don't need it loud all the time anymore. The other 20% is when there's nothing on Sirius or the local ESPN station, or if I'm out cruising on the weekend but when I get a project car on the road that will be what I spend my weekends in.

So if this is primarilly a M-F commuter, would a set of good components be substantial enough for normal listening and getting loud occasionally? Then maybe down the road I could build an enclosure in my spare tire well and throw an 8 or 10 in there, but I worry about the floating floor/cover & carpet muffling the sound.

I hope this isn't even more confusing.