I have been thinking of upgrading the sound system in my X. I was going to put an aftermarket head unit in but I like the OEM look. So I just thought I could upgrade the speakers and maybe the amp. I want speakers that will “drop” in so I don’t have to cut or remove anything. I also thought about changing the amp. Now, I have never seen an amp in the car but there has to be one. If I can get a good sound in the speakers then I will not add any sort of sub. Question 1, do all x-types have an amp? If so can it be upgraded? Second question, what are a good pair of speakers that can drop right in?

 

There are different levels of sound system depending on year.I stand to be corrected but I believe its something like this:-
The base ones have no amp and 4 Philips speakes like mine.
The pre 2005=4 with premium sound have an amp,4 speakers,2 front tweeters and a pair of 6.5" subs (binocular type) under parcel shelf.All speakers are Alpine.
Post 2004 premium systems as above but also have the rear door tweeters too.
Base systems have colour coded speaker grills.
Premium have chrome ring around the speaker grills and tweeter grills in front (and depending on year rear) door handles.
Mine is a basic system but is getting upgraded soon (13th-15th Feb) see other thread.
The factory amp needs to be connected with a Fibre Optic Jag cable I believe.
Luckily one guy from the UK is making mean upgraded fibre optic cablefrom a basic system harness ready to plug in the new amp and extra speakers/sub otherwise it would be a pain to upgrade with original components I think.
I want to keepo the OE head unit which will have DSP and bass settings once everything is in and connected up correctly it should automatically recognise the extra speakers/sub/amp.
Good luck but aftermarket would be easier as a few people have done this.