I disagree. My '71 with insulation under carpet and a Kayline soft top is much quieter than my '68 with Raptor Liner, BedMat and a hard top. Much quieter...
The soft top might not exactly be much of a sound insulator in itself, but it's not an echo chamber like a bare hard top can be either.
Agree that a hard top that's fully insulated is the best of the three. But anything you do to quiet a Bronco down is a step in the right direction I say.
I'd almost have to say that more sound comes through the wheel wells than just about anywhere else. Yeah, you get wind noise, road noise, engine noise (and heat!), driveline noise, tire noise, funny mysterious flapping noises, and all that you would expect. But I've found that each time you reduce one of them, you can hear (and feel;D) the difference.
Heck, even just having no auxiliary tank under the driver's floor adds to the noise quotient.
I changed a rear pinion angle recently and it made things notably quieter inside the Bronco!
No kidding. But that was just part of the driveline noise you can hear. In this case a rattling transfer case was just a constant cacophonic companion while driving around and you would just have thought it was a normal part of the Bronco-experience.
I love the Bronco experience. But I'm still glad when some parts of it go away!
Paul