Best JBL Car Speakers Review
If you’ve ever taken any interest in speakers or higher-end audio, JBL is a brand you likely recognize, and for good reason. The company has been around for quite a long time and has mastered the art of making top-notch products.
JBL has gained a solid reputation throughout the years. Its success is well-earned with decades of experience to show for it.
JBL has released everything from portable Bluetooth speakers to home audio systems and maintained a level of quality throughout. The same goes for its selection of car speakers.
If you’re in the market for car speakers, JBL tends to come up more often than others. It has options at basically every price point.
Here, we’ll look at the various JBL car speakers on the market, how they differ, the performance they offer and ultimately which is the best fit for you.
It goes without saying that more expensive JBL models offer great sound quality than their cheaper siblings. Generally speaking, the more you pay, the better the sound quality.
So without further ado, let’s figure out the best JBL car speakers for you. Soon, you’ll create an audio Nirvana in your car and you’ll never want to hop out of your vehicle because of bad sound or distortion.
JBL Series of car speakers
The JBL car speakers fall into three main categories. There’s “Club series”, “Stage series”, and “Stadium series”.
Club Series
The speakers in this series are designed to be an ideal, entry-level upgrades from factory speakers. They offer a great value for the money. They deliver sound quality that’s good enough for casual music listening, podcasts, and radio.
JBL “Club” speakers sport a compact design which means they’ll fit in most cars on the road. Their high sensitivity ratings and humble speaker handling allows them to deliver great performance, even when they’re powered by factory stereos.
JBL Club speakers feature rugged polypropylene cones with the Plus One™ design which allow for respectable bass and long performance life, while PEI balanced dome tweeters play smooth highs.
JBL Club speakers come in a range of standard sizes and in both coaxial and component configurations.
Stage Series
JBL “Stage” series lands smack dab in the middle of its offering lineup, providing a great mix of performance and price.
The “Stage” speakers are an affordable way to get legendary JBL quality audio in your vehicle. They are featured with Polypropylene woofers which provide a strong foundation of bass and midrange frequencies, and PEI Balanced dome tweeters for crisp, high-end frequencies.
The “Stage” speakers are designed to deliver the perfect blend of uncompromising JBL sound and unbeatable value. They come in a wide variety of sizes and in both coaxial and component configurations.
Stadium Series
JBL “Stadium” series represents JBL’s “Best-In-Class” speakers geared for the avid audiophiles. The speakers in this series are slightly pricey than their siblings, however, they offer a world class sound quality.
JBL “Stadium” speakers sport 2 ohm configuration which extracts every watt of power from your external amp or headunit allowing their Plus One™ woofers to deliver an impressive bass performance. Their upgraded crossovers coupled with soft dome tweeters on the other hand ensure a rich experience in the upper frequencies, defined by howling highs and extraordinary detail even at the highest volume levels.
Best JBL 6.5 Car Speakers
1. JBL CLUB6520
We’ll start off these JBL car speakers reviews with CLUB6520, which are JBL’s most popular 6.5 coaxial car speakers in the market. These entry-level speakers are designed to be a great replacement to stock speakers. They come equipped with acoustically damped, UV-resistant polypropylene woofers coupled with rubber surround for stellar performance even under the stickiest (or chilliest) environmental conditions — after all, your car door isn’t the most forgiving place to reside.
Additionally, these speakers are featured with edge-driven PEI tweeters which ensure a rich experience in the upper frequencies, allowing your to hear musical details that you never heard from your old speakers.
JBL CLUB6520 speakers boast 92 dB sensitivity rating (at 2.83 volts) and can handle up to 50 watts of power on continuous basis. With a frequency response of 50Hz to 20kHz, you’ll score pristine highs, fantastic mid-range clarity and a decent bass.
The Club 6520’s 3 ohm low-impedance design will draw more power from your receiver to give your music extra punch, but you’ll get even better results when your hook them up to an outboard amp.
These speakers are also available in component configuration (JBL CLUB 6500C) for those of you looking for a step up in sound quality and are willing to shell out a few extra dollars.
2. JBL GTO629
JBL GTO car speakers are well-known for being on the high end of the price and power scale, but the JBL GTO629 strikes a more modest balance while still retaining that famous JBL’s sound signature.
These premium 6.5 inch coaxial speakers are meant for audiophiles seeking superior sonic performance from their speakers. They come equipped with carbon-injected Plus One™ woofer cones with hi-roll butyl rubber surround for well-damped, tight sound quality, and excellent linearity.
To complement their bass response, these speakers use edge-driven silk dome tweeters which allow for unmatched performance in the upper-frequencies, and a great sense of realism.
The best thing with these tweeters is that they employ a UniPivot™ design that allows you to aim the tweeter’s sound more directly at your ears for a better stereo imaging. On top of that, you can use the adjustable level control to adjust the tweeter output level; choose between 0 (flat) and +3 dB to compensate for off-axis mounting positions or road noise, so the GTO629’s sound is customized to your car’s acoustics.
JBL GTO629 speakers can handle up to 60 watts RMS, and bursts up to 180 watts. They present a frequency response of 50Hz to 21kHz. With 93 dB sensitivity rating, these speakers will sound great running off your stock or aftermarket headunit, but they’ll truly shine when driven by a powerful external amp.
3. JBL GTO609C
If you’re looking to scale up from the JBL GTO629 (linked to above) and you want something that can bump out extra power, the JBL GTO609C might be the speakers to look at.
These 6.5 component speakers are basically identical to their full-range counterparts (JBL GTO629 – mentioned above) in that they come equipped with basically the same drivers – carbon-injected Plus One™ woofer cones with butyl rubber surround and edge-driven silk dome tweeters – However, since these are component speakers, they come with external crossovers which allows them to render a well-balanced sound throughout the audible frequency spectrum.
These speakers present a frequency response of 45Hz to 25kHz and have 93 dB sensitivity rating (at 2.83 volts). At 100 watts of continuous power and the ability to handle bursts up to 240 watts, these speakers are powerful enough to bring out all of your music’s excitement and detail. With such great power handling, it’s highly recommended to pair these babies to an outboard amp for optimal performance. However, thanks to their sensitivity rating, they’ll also work equally well even when driven by a stock headunit.
4. JBL Stage 600C
On a budget but still want a good sounding component system? Check out the JBL Stage 600C. It’s not expensive, but you still get a good bang for the buck.
These Stage 600C component speakers sport 6-1/2″ polypropylene woofer cones coupled with rubber surround for a robust low-end punch, while their PEI balanced dome tweeters with in-line crossovers bring your music back to life with startling detail.
At 50 watts of continuous power and the ability to handle bursts up to 150 watts, it’s safe to pair these speakers to an aftermarket amp for a serious boost in sound quality. However, thanks to their high sensitivity rating (90dB) make them a perfect combo with a factory or aftermarket radio.
5. JBL Stadium GTO620
There are times when you want to eschew the cheap full-range speakers and go with something that offers an impressive sound quality and great key specs. And that’s precisely when the JBL GTO620 is such a desirable option.
These premium coaxial speakers are very well-engineered, and if you’re installing them, the immediate difference is a dramatic jump in build and sound quality. From the hefty magnets to the oversized voice coils with shimmering copper, you can feel and see that these speakers are very well put-together — now just imagine how much better they’ll sound compared to the old factory speakers that have been filling your ears with compromised audio for years.
JBL GTO620 speakers come equipped with glass-fiber woofer cones supported by hi-roll rubber surround – Glass fiber weighs less than traditional materials, so you don’t need a ton of power to drive these woofers. It’s also rigid so the woofers will hold their shape when you crank it up or when the bass gets heavy.
Furthermore, these speakers use an edge-driven, PEI polymer dome tweeters for a smoother, more open response and minimal distortion at high volume levels. Each of these tweeters has a level control button (+0 dB flat and +3 dB) so you can adjust the brightness to your taste.
These 2.5-ohm speakers can handle up to 75 watts RMS and up to 225 watts at peak. They are plenty loud and render crystal clear tone, loads of quality mids, controlled bass and lovely chiming trebles.
They boast ultra-high sensitivity so that you can power them with a factory radio or aftermarket stereo, but for optimal results, consider feeding them plenty of power from an outboard amp.
Best JBL 6X9 Car Speakers
Now, let’s take a look at some of the best JBL 6X9 speakers out there…
1. JBL Stage 9603
If you’re in the market for a nicely affordable set of 6X9 speakers that won’t break the bank, it’s hard not to go with the JBL Stage 9603.
These 3 way speakers are designed to be an affordable way to bring joy back to your listening experience. They’re featured with 6″x9″ injection molded polypropylene woofers to give your music the responsive, robust low-end punch it’s been missing. These woofer cones are coupled with durable rubber surround for consistent and long lasting performance.
Their balanced dome tweeters on the other hand render smooth, spacious highs, and since these are three way speakers, they use an extra piezoelectric supertweeter which ensures a rich experience in the upper-frequencies and brings your music back to life with startling detail.
These speakers boast a 45Hz to 20kHz frequency response and 92 dB sensitivity, giving you all the range and power you could want. They deliver pristine highs, great mids, though to produce beefy lows, try pairing with a subwoofer.
2. JBL GTO939
If you don’t mind spending some serious cash to get your hands on one of the most capable 6X9 full-range speakers in this roundup, the JBL GTO939 might just be the best way to go.
Theses speakers seem to hit the sweet spot for a lot of guys out there thanks to their incredible sound powered by 6.5 carbon-injected woofers, edge-driven silk dome tweeters and super-tweeters.
Performance is, as you would expect, impressive. With a 94 dB sensitivity and frequency response of 46Hz to 21kHz, you’ll score dramatic sound with stellar dynamic range, stereo imaging and bass power.
Additionally, these speakers can handle up to 100 watts RMS. This allows them to generate effortless sound at basically any volume. So if you want to beef up the system even more and blast these babies, you can pair them up with an external amp for mind-blowing presence.
All in all, the price tag on these speakers is relatively steep, but if you can afford it there isn’t much that the GTO939 speakers can’t do.
3. JBL Club 9600C
The sky’s the limit when shopping for a new pair of 6X9 speakers, but you don’t have to completely blow your budget to get great sound. The Club 9600C is one of JBL’s best 6X9 component speakers at this price range.
These speakers are designed to be a high-grade replacement to stock speakers. However, don’t expect thunderous bass, mind-blowing mids and howling highs out of these speakers. That’s not to say that they’re lacking in terms of performance. Quite honestly, these speakers deliver crystal-clear sound and great balance that sounds great at nearly every volume. Bass remains decent but not as expected from 6″X9″ speakers.
The JBL Club 9600C speakers come equipped with UV-resistant polypropylene woofers with hi-roll surround, and 3/4″ edge-driven soft dome tweeters. The I-Mount tweeter mounting system and Starfish mounting brackets give you several different ways to mount the tweeters including surface-mounting, flush-mounting and bottom mounting.
These JBL 6X9 component speakers have a frequency response of 50Hz to 20kHz and can handle up to 90 watts of power on continuous basis and up to 270 watts at peak.
Bottom Line
There’s no denying that JBL (part of the Harman Kardon group of audio brands) is one of the best car speaker brands out there. That said, a name that pioneers in the audio space is worth the trust you’d put in a set of speakers that carries its logo.
Out of all contenders, JBL car speakers have the best chance of delighting your ears without walloping your finances. They have a reputation of delivering crisp audio performance since they typically follow the Harman curve and generally sound well-balanced overall.
JBL offers a variety of car speakers of different types and sizes. Too much to cover in one post. However, we narrowed the choices down to a few solid options to help you pick up the best JBL car speakers for your setup.
