Should i amp the 6x9s

[abdar]

I have pioneer 6x9s 3-way 220watt max and 40 nominal in the back of my car. When i turn them up really loud off of my kenwood 50x4 deck they get kinda distorted and lose sound quality. So i took a trip to best buy and they have a 150x2 phosgate amp for 80 bucks, i thought that should work but the guy at best buy told me that my speakers would blow if i turned them up off the amp. So i didnt get it, but i wanted to ask u guys if u would recommed the amp since the guy at best buy didnt look to smart with car audio, if u have any suggestions on what to do please help me out.

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[Aurorav8 10+ year member]

I wouldn't use 6 x 9's personally. I have my stock ones in my car now, unhooked.

If they are already distorting just off of the HU's internal amp then they probably won't be able to handle an external amp, although it would sound better.

 

[Gauntlet 5,000+ posts]

In my opinion, 6x9's sound incredibly worse when amped. The extra power pushes them to full excursion (in some cases past it, depending on the amp), and 6x9s distort very badly when they get near full excursion...

 

[gettnbig 10+ year member]

I think it depends on the 6x9's and what the 6x9's are in. I have a pair of Eclipse 6x9's. I had them in the factory slots in the back of my old car and they sounded decent when running off my HU but distorted when I turned them up too loud. Then I amped them and could get much much more out of them before distortion. Finally I boxed them and amped them and they sounded amazing. So all in all it depends on the install but also the product too.

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

Originally posted by Gauntlet In my opinion, 6x9's sound incredibly worse when amped. The extra power pushes them to full excursion (in some cases past it, depending on the amp), and 6x9s distort very badly when they get near full excursion...

It's unfair to lump all 6X9's into that category. There are some that will easily take 80 wrms before reaching xmax. You hafta hipass them of course, like any other speaker.
I was gonna amp my Infinity's but I discovered that the better my front stage gets, the less I need the rear fill. You're better off investing in front speakers than amping the rears.