For many years, speakers were always designed in standard round shapes. However, today round and oval speakers are available on the market in a wide variety of sizes to match your taste and preferences.
Many vehicles have openings for oval speakers but you may find that you can only readily get round adapter places. What should you do?
In this article, we compare the oval vs round speakers and talk about their features and design, explain the impact of their shapes and provide examples of the best oval and round speakers.
Round Speakers
Speakers have been made in a symmetrical round shape for a long time and this design is intentional to create a better and clearer sound.
This is because of the symmetrical design which means the signal is dispersed throughout the speaker evenly, creating a more synchronized sound.
As the name suggests, round speakers are circular. They are also known as component speakers, meaning they come with various components such as woofers, tweeters, and external crossovers separate from each other.
Today, we can even find some round Bluetooth speakers with a round external design as well.
Why are these speakers round? Component speakers are designed to enable each of the components to get enough space and the required frequency signals from the amp.
For example, the design allows the tweeters to handle high frequencies and super tweeters to give ultra-frequency efficiency.
Of course, a crossover is used to ensure different frequencies are sent to the right drivers. For example, it ensures that the audio system directs treble frequencies to treble speakers.
Pros
- Comes with various compatible components
- Provide quality sound
- Minimum distortion
Cons
- Requires more space than oval speakers
- Difficult to install
- Costly
Oval Speakers
Oval speakers are typically mounted on enclosures and frames. They have high power capacity, excellent sensitivity levels, and a wide frequency range.
Back in the day, 6×9 speakers were invented to maximize the use of limited space in vehicles.
In other words, these speakers came about because manufacturers ‘squeezed-in’ speakers were to fit the spot where they wanted to put them in vehicles.
The manufacturer was able to take advantage of the longer side-to-side width than the shorter back-to-front panel measurements.
In addition, oval speakers provided a way to maximize cone size in an available space. as you may know, the larger cone area moves more air and creates higher SPL. This is especially true for lower frequencies and so bass performs better.
However, these speakers are commonly used in personal computers, the gaming industry, multimedia applications, and more.
Pros
- High power capacity
- Stronger bass – creates deeper sounds
- Excellent sensitivity levels
- Wide frequency range
- Performs well in small space
- Less costly
- No installation required
Cons
- Often produces average-quality bass
Are Round Speakers Better than Oval Speakers?
After comparing the performance of 6×9 oval speakers and standard round speakers, it might be tempting to answer this in the affirmative, “yes.”
However, there is no straightforward answer to this question. Each of these two designs has its unique pros and cons, so the answer depends on your taste and preferences.
In most cases, however, round speakers produce superior quality sound than oval speakers. As we saw above, for 6×9 oval speakers to outdo round speakers, you must look for a larger cabinet, use a low-impedance amplifier, and so on.
Round speakers, on the other hand, are intentionally designed to offer the best quality. We mentioned at the beginning that they come with separate compatible components that are connected using a high-quality crossover.
The setup of the system allows each component to deal with a specific frequency, meaning round speakers deliver minimum distortion.
For that matter, if you are asking the above questions from a sound quality point of view alone, then you can be sure round speakers are the clear winners. However, in terms of cost and installation process, oval speakers are better than round speakers.
So, as an average music lover who will be satisfied with good sound quality, oval speakers will work well for you. Nonetheless, if you want excellent sound, round speakers are the better choice.
Can Oval Speakers Produce Better Quality Sound than Round Speakers?
We have said that the consensus is that round speakers provide more accurate and better sound quality than oval speakers. That is accurate, given that all the elements are designed to work in harmony and minimize distortion.
However, when space is at a premium, round speakers aren’t quite the best choice and won’t give the best quality. This explains why oval speakers perform better in cars than round ones.
The oval shape fits nicely in vehicles, and you do not need to worry about the placement of components and tuning.
Are 6×9 Oval Speakers Good For Low-Frequency Bass?
Most oval speakers have a cone size similar to 8″ woofers, which ensures they offer better quality bass than standard round speakers. In general, the width is greater, giving the cone a much larger space for moving air.
Even though you can expect the same amount of bass as you would from mid-level 8-inch woofers from 6×9 speakers, the same quality will depend on the following:
- Enclosure Size: Many 6×9 speakers do not produce quality bass since their boxes are too small. Of course, you can change that by using a larger box.
- Power Rating and Speaker Quality: 6×9 speakers with higher power ratings and stiffer cones guarantee better quality bass than standard round speakers of the same size. You need to feed the power-hungry bass to get the desired quality.
- Frequency Response: For the best experience, you should pick 6×9 speakers that deliver the required lower bass. Alternatively, you can use 6×9 woofers designed to provide quality bass. Another way to make the speaker more efficient is to amplify its bass.
Moreover, if you have an amplifier to drive your oval speaker, you will likely reap some benefits:
- Cleaner sound and lower distortion
- More volume if the amplifier has a low impedance
- Blocking power-robbing using a crossover
What Are Good Examples of Oval and Round Speakers?
If you are looking for some of the best examples of oval and round speakers, let’s take a close look at two great speakers (one per speaker category).
Good Round Speaker:
CT Sounds Meso 6.5-inch Speaker: These are among the best round speakers on the market. Their frequency is between 40Hz and 6 kHz.
Meso 6.5-inch speakers also have a rating ranging from 150W (RMS) to 300W (MAX). What’s more, it has two ABS crossovers that direct frequencies to the right drivers.
Key Features
- Fiberglas cones with Nitrile Butadiene Rubber surround
- Yellow PC and white-zinc coated NOMEX spider with 5mm backplate and 6 mm top plate
- Y30 ferrite and Neo magnets
- Crossover circuit box
- Quality Copper Clad Aluminium Wire with tweeters
Good Oval Speaker:
Kicker 43DSC69304 D-Series: This is a 6×9 360 W 3-way car audio coaxial speaker. These are powerful motor vehicle speakers designed in a slim frame with minimal tweeter protrusion.
This makes them simple and easy to install. It also includes a woofer!
Key Features
Here are the main features:
- Slim design
- Woofer included
- Foam surrounds
Again, when buying it is important that you keep certain things in mind, like what type of speaker pods you are using. Are you using 6.5″ speaker pods? For example.
Square Vs Circle Subwoofers
Since most subwoofers are designed to be very efficient, it comes down to which design has better sound control. Square subwoofers are designed with extra space and surface area to maximize air movement.
Round subwoofers are designed with a spherical shape that maximizes control. The better the control, the better the quality of sound reproduced.
Why Are Speakers Round?
Round-shaped speakers are designed with a structure that makes sure all the speaker components, like the mid-range, the bass, and the tweeters are all accessible separately.
A round speaker is designed in that specific way to make completely sure that each component gets the exact amount of frequency they require. Without the application of the proper frequency required, the speaker will not be able to produce the sound they are supposed to.
Why Are 6×9 Speakers Oval?
6×9 speakers, which are also known as coaxial speakers are designed in an oval shape to allay packaging concerns, there were limited packaging spaces when distributing bulky speakers.
So, to get the best possible sound quality out of the limited space available, 6×9 speakers were designed in oval shapes. The oval shape also provides better sound in a narrower space for 6×9’’ speakers.
Are square woofers better than round woofers?
Since most subwoofers are designed to be very efficient, it comes down to which design has better sound control.
Round subwoofers are designed with a spherical shape that maximizes control. The better the control, the better the quality of sound reproduced by the woofer.
Conclusion
We have seen those round speakers typically deliver better sound quality than oval speakers.
However, when you bring in other factors such as space requirements, installation complexities, and budget, oval speakers can be a better option.
So, we believe you are now well placed to determine when either a round speaker or oval speaker suits your taste and preference.