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Coaxial speakers are speakers which include a woofer with a tweeter suspended over the woofer. The woofer handles low to mid-frequency sound, while the tweeter handles high frequency sound. Coaxial speakers are commonly seen in car audio systems, although they can be used in other locations as well. By contrast, a component speaker system separates the woofers and tweeters, and often includes a subwoofer for really low frequency sound.

As a general rule, component speaker systems are of better quality, although some coaxial speakers can be quite good. People use coaxial speakers because they tend to be less expensive, and because they are easier to install. Instead of dealing with an assortment of component speakers, someone can install two coaxial speakers for stereo sound with a broad range. Coaxial speakers are also easy to balance, because all of the sound comes from the same place, rather than being distributed across an area by a component system.

There are several things which should be considered when evaluating coaxial speakers for purchase. The first is the mounting depth, which will determine how easy or difficult the speakers will be to install. Ideally, the speakers should fit existing speaker mounts, making it very simple to put them in place. If the shape and mounting depth are not compatible with existing mounts, it may be necessary to build mounts or to enlarge the existing ones, which can be problematic.