I have apline x series speakers with x over, a jl audio class d amp, jl 10 inch sub, and a pioneer premier hu.

The system sounds ok, but I think its seriously lacking in fullness, plus with my cheap amp i get destortion when its turned all the way up. I spend a lot of time trying to tune the system, but still cant get it to where I want it. I loved the bose system in my old audi and would love to get this to sound like that, is that just a pipe dream cause of size limitations? I know I need another amp, will additional speakers also make a big difference? I feel like i need additional speakers or the tweeters need to br mouted ontop of the dash....let me know if you think just a better amp and some netter speakers will make that much more of a difference.

 

I'm guessing that the HU is driving the front speakers ??
If thats the case, then thats the problem.
You need an amp for those speakers.

 

no the speakers are powered from the amp

 

Well you only listed a class D amp.

 

the JL "HD" line are full range Class D amps, similar to the Alpine PDX. but, in any case, josserman should tell us exactly which amp he has.

 

I have teh G4500...I realize this is a lower end amp...do you guys think this is the issue? I have a feeling it's a combination between this, the speakers (even though they are pretty good) and the size of the car and placement of speakers. Speakers I have are Alpine SPX-17PRO


amp:
http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_amps.php?amp_id=480

here is the whole setup:
JL Audio G Series G4500 80W x 4 Car Amplifier
JL Audio 10W1v2-4 10" 4-ohm Component Subwoofer
Pioneer Premier DEH-P880PRS HU (installed by previous owner)
Alpine SPX-17PRO Component Speakers (installed by previous owner)
Pioneer CD-BTB200 - Bluetooth
Pioneer GEX-P920XM - XM
Pioneer CD-IB100II - Ipod

 

Man, those speakers are selling for $300+ so they can't be bad.
The amp you have isn't cheap either.
Why don't you bridge the amp to 2 channels for the extra power so you can fully test the speakers out.
Or you can try running active since you have a 4 channel amp.
If you're getting better results after that, then simply get another amp for the sub. You can easily fit 2 amps in the spare tire compartment.
BTW, I have the same sub as you from my old car but I've been debating on what to buy to replace it.
The sub is ok at best.

 

I'm actually pretty happy with the sub believe it or now...but thats a great idea to bridge the speakers to see if more power will help...thanks for the idea! When you say active, I'm pretty sure my amp is already set to active and not passive?

 

again...the sounds I'm looking for would be something comprable to what my bose system sounded like in my a4. Is it possible that just due to the size and limited number of speakers that I won't be able to obtain that type of depth?

 

I'm not an audiophile like some of these guys here.
I would bridge the amp and see how the speakers sound with the extra power first.
Running active means since you have a 4 channel amp, you can use 2 channels to drive the mids and the other 2 channels to drive the tweeters. The crossovers that came with the speakers should let you do this.
I actually have never done this before but alot of audiophiles do so you should try it out.