I don't know if someone mentioned this but 1) your doors have to be sealed very well, 2) I would remove the panels make sure the speakers and mounted well without air gaps, 3) make sure they are in proper phase (easy to mix up if in a hurry) 4) flatten all EQ channels completely 5) Run high pass at 70 hz....turn off all DSP features. 6) If it doesn't sound better after this either your speakers are blown or something is wrong with your equipment.

More than anything, try to find a nice person in your area that can have a listen - someone that knows what they are talking about and they can tell you if it's just you or something is wrong for sure.

 

Sorry to bump an older thread but I had the exact same experience with these speakers. I hated the way they sounded. My 15 year old stock speakers sounder better in the lower frequency range than these 17 pros. I had 2 sets and I never even took the second set out of the box. I sold them for a huge loss just to be rid of the pieces of . They may have sounded good if accompanied by a subwoofer and 8" midbass but they suck as a full range speaker. They produce no bass at all.

 

The only smart thing said in this thread

 

I didn't read everyone's comments but from the description there's no way sound deadening would be the issue, seems to me the door panel or something may be rubbing up on the speaker surround causing a gross muffle on lower note hits.. I had a similar problem on my own install but it was barely noticeable, luckily caught it before it wrecked my $200 components. :/