Whether we are learning about 6 x 8 speakers online or in a retail store, it is very helpful for us to understand important technical words, phrases and processes. The following is a list of typical technical references described in a non-technical way.

Head Unit (HU): this is often used when referring to the source of the input to the speakers. That means the radio, CD player, MP3 player or whatever is sending music to the speakers.

OEM: this is the abbreviation for Original Equipment Manufacturer. This is sometimes called the factory sound system. These terms are used when referring to the audio equipment installed in our cars at the factory.

Sound system output: this refers to the amount of power our source unit has available to send the music to the speakers. The power is measured in various ways. Some of the measurements are very important to consider; such as nominal wattage (see definition). Other measurements are less important and often misleading; such as peak power (see definition).

Tweeter: the driver (device) in our 6 x 8 speakers that is created to reproduce the higher notes in the music range.

Mid-range: the driver (device) in our 6 x 8 speakers that is created to reproduce the middle notes in the music range.

Woofer: the driver (device) in our 6 x 8 speakers that is created to reproduce the low notes in the music range.

Sub-woofer: the driver (device) in our 6 x 8 speakers that is created to reproduce the lowest notes in the low range.

One-way, two-way, three-way and four-way speakers: these phrases tell us how many separate drivers (devices) are in the speaker. A one-way 6 x 8 speaker (or single cone full range speaker) has only one driver (device) that is required to reproduce all notes in the music range. A two-way 6 x 8 speaker (or tweeter woofer combination) has two drivers (devices) to produce music. The tweeter produces the high notes and the woofer produces the low notes. The two combined overlap in producing mid-range notes. A three-way 6 x 8 speaker (the most popular style) has three drivers (devices) to produce music; a tweeter for high notes, a woofer for low notes, and a mid-range for the middle notes. A four-way 6 x 8 speaker has four drivers (devices) to produce music. It has the same drivers as the three-way and adds a sub-woofer which specializes in producing the lowest notes in the music. This gives it more of what some music fans call boom. Two things should be obvious from these definitions. The first point is that the more drivers in a 6 x 8 speaker the better the quality of the sound. The second point is that the more drivers in a 6 x 8 speaker the higher the price.

Ohm: this is a measurement of electrical resistance. The only interest we have here is that our speakers and our source unit have the same Ohm rating. Most 6 x 8 speakers are 4 Ohm rated. It is better if our source system is 4 Ohm rated as well. The system will work with mismatched Ohm ratings but not as well.

Watts: this is a measurement of power. The higher the wattage rating of a source system, the more power it has to send the music to the speakers. The higher the wattage rating of the speakers, the more power the speakers can take. Higher wattage does not only have the potential to produce louder sound but, even more importantly, it has the potential to improve the quality of the sound from our 6 x 8 speakers.

Nominal wattage: this is the process of matching the wattage output of our source system with wattage rating of our speakers. If the wattage of our speakers is much higher than the wattage of our source system, we could blow up our source system trying to get the speakers to perform well. The reverse is true as well. If the wattage of our source system is much higher than the wattage of our speakers, we could blow up the speakers by turning the volume up too high.

Peak power: is a confusing method of measuring speaker and source system performance. It is usually much safer to use wattage ratings to put an audio system together to perform optimally.

These definitions should be of help when researching your best choices for 6 x 8 speakers. Enjoy the music.