The audio quality in my car is absolutely awful. There's no bass and it's distorted at almost any level. Interestingly enough, the previous owner put in an alpine deck (probably bad) and a JL Audio 4 channel Amp.

It's a 2003, so I am thinking he got around the MOST problem correctly for most of the speakers, but maybe he didn't wire in the sub?

Wouldn't I need a 5 channel amp and/or a mono channel sub amp or something? Would that explain the lack of bass?

I don't want to go into an audio shop without having some knowledge so they don't just make up a bunch of stuff and have me nodding.

 

Yes you are correct. You need a 5 channel amp or a second amp for the sub.

 

Ajs, The door units are subs, the dash units midrange and a couple more fill in midrange located either side of the rear seat. I think the bulk of the bass comes from the door units, the rear sub doesn't supply a ton of bass.

The factory speakers are not the greatest but can sound good when driven correctly. Replacing speakers and adding an amp can make the car sound worse if the speakers are not a good match for the car.

 

His problem is the previous owner has bypassed the most system. So he has no power to any sub and 4 channels powered to 4 speakers or sets of speakers. This would give you a very tiny sound with no bass. I guess the OP should clarify - do you have a sub and which speakers are working.

 

So I definitely have front a rear sound, but I wasn't sure if anything was coming out of that bose box in the back (I think the answer is no)

I think they just left the sub out, but even then, it seems I'd be getting a little more bass.

It just snowed like a foot, so I'll probably take this up in a few days once that clears up and it's less messy.