My ancient (1996) miata has not had a working radio for a~ a decade. It was never easy to hear it back when it worked. It was clearly not missed. Decided to pull out the dead hradio and add some in-dash storage. GF to the rescue.
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i’m sure the extra storage is great (and looks great). but man, i don’t know if i could drive a car very long w/o music. sounds like you just needed a louder stereo to overcome the wind noise.
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That radio was the really loud one with extra speakers added to headrests. Still not great vs wind noise. When in need: ear buds. Legal? Doubtful. Effective? Yes.
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Legal except in a few sates. Bad idea in most.
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maybe “the extra loud one” for mazda miata. but that era i completely redid any OEM system as soon as i bought the car. replaced the head unit, all the speakers, and often added a sub in the trunk (or under the truck back seat) as well as a separate amp. but always at least better quality speakers and better head unit w/more power.
can’t really do that all that easily today because it’s so integrated into the car and main LCD screen.
now, how much it’s worth that effort really depends on you, but i gotta have tunes and preferably loud ones that i can sing at the top of my lungs with. cuz yeah, i’m that guy that you point at when i pass you by and i’m belting out whatever’s playing.
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It was not oem. I changed out the stock head unit for one with plenty of grunt. Upgraded the door speakers then added the headrest speakers. It was plenty loud, but the added wind noise made it hard to enjoy the tunes. Thus the ear buds. Wind in my hair but not my ears.
In non-convertables, i agree that one can get great sound.
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AirPods are excellent at isolating wind noise. You can put it on pass through mode and hear the world around you and it will still reduce the wind noise greatly. I have no problem wearing my AirPods while I’m driving or walking in traffic.
In fact if you turn up the gain it gives you super hearing. If I tell it to emphasize voices and crank up the ambient sounds I can clearly hear somebody talking from two rooms away. Modern earbuds plus smart phones enable some pretty cool things.
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I had the mx-5 rf. I loved the car, and even though i was greatly protected from a lot of the wind noise, i still had to drive with one ear bud in or the top up to actually listen to music. Can’t imagine full convertible noise.
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Very nice. I too would rather have storage than a stereo and those stupid displays every vehicle seems to have now.
Any time I loan a vehicle to someone, they comment on why isn’t my radio programmed? My daughter is taking my Sorento to drill in middle Georgia this weekend, it gets twice the mileage of the truck (mine since new in 2002, gave it to her a few years back) and about the same as her Challenger, which needs tires before she takes it any considerable distance.
My last “car” had a 14-speaker harmon kampf or something with subwoofers under each front seat. I think I turned it on twice in the 5 years I owned it, once to check it out myself, and then show to my daughter. When my ex and I drove up to Missouri for our daughter’s graduation from basic - over 650 miles each way - we didn’t turn on the “radio” once. We talked, like human beings. Or just enjoyed the silence.
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Very nice practical cut.
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I like my music … but if it wasn’t working, I’d rather have the space. Nice job!
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Nothing not to like here.
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Nice well done.
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What does one put is such a nice space? I think it would be snacks for me. 
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My cell phone fits nicely.
Snacks, glasses, very small planets
May need to add a wireless charger circuit underneath.
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Small, unruly children or pets…
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100% this. a Qi charger is… well… key. 
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The added trim adds a lot and ties everything together.
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The original cut was already amazing. This just set it over the top amazing
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