5 1/4" vs 6 1/2"

[ForrestPump]

I really just want to know why there's so much hate and such a bad rap for using 5 1/4" speakers. I understand bigger is usually better but you should never be so quick to walk away from a great deal over an extra inch if it comes your way. Hopefully your girlfriends don't do the same.

[Euphonic]

If you were using a 5¼ these days, you might be planning a 3-way front stage (tweeter, midrange, midbass). People going with a 2-way setup might opt for an oversized tweeter or extended range driver and a 6½.

[ForrestPump]

Makes sense. I'm actually scheming a 3 or 4 way front with 2 woofers w/ 1/2" tweeters a set of 3/4" tweeters and a set of 3 or 4" midranges

Do companies make 2-Way component speakers that are just woofer + midrange? They should

[ForrestPump]

Before you ask its because I want to avoid modifying panels so that's the OEM holes I've got to work with and I do love treble

[chithead]

Depends on your install goals. If they fit your install, with no modification, and you're ok with the trade offs losing that, "little bit" of cone area... no reason not to use them. Especially since they typically beam higher, giving a good balance between the 4" and 6.5" woofers.

[Jdunk54nl]

In my opinion it is because, in the past, people were trying to run their door woofers down as low as possible to "fix" issues or to get upfront bass. Both of these are bad reasons and are either install issues or phase between sub/woofer issues. You can also see Erin Hardinson's video where using your subwoofer and crossing it higher than "normal" actually fixes some door mounted woofer issues. So the purpose of a 6.5" is defeated with that approach.

If a 2 way, I would actually choose a 5 1/4 over a 6.5 due to what chithead said and beaming mitigated issues. If a 3 way, then ya, a 6.5" if it fits would probably be able to play louder without issues compared to a 5 1/4 driver.

Beaming graphics below: I try to not spend much time in the yellow, orange, and definitely not the red regions.