front2back

Quick info:
-Cammed LS1, 225/231, .61x/.61x, 113 LSA
-Speed engineering 1-3/4" LT's, 3" collectors, w/ O/R Y-pipe
-Either a Flowmaster or copy with rusty pipes and ghetto welded C4 tips (already on there when bought).
-Lowered 1.25" and currently am dealing with road construction everywhere so I scrape enough already.

I only want to spend about a $1000 at most (but you can convince me) on either a new/used catback or dual exhaust system. Basically I want good flow, good sound (not a huge fan of the rasp, which is why I like duals), loud but not make me hate myself every time I start it up at 6am or create so much drone and vibration that I can't hear my music clearly. Electric cutouts are fine to add in.

-For starters, I hate the SLP LM1 with a passion. A friend had it on his and my ears were bleeding. The LM2 was okay but I've heard some bad things about the flow and drone.
-I was thinking about the TSP Rumbler True Duals but I've heard a lot from other users on here that they truly live up to the "Rumbler" title and create a ton of vibration and noise just cruising around. Ground clearance will also be an issue. The upside is that at least it's cheap and hooks right up to my headers.
-A friend also suggested I get Magnaflows, and on paper this seems like a good choice. Mature noise levels at low rpms, loud at high rpms. However on threads here I also heard that they're way too quiet, even when WOT. So I don't think I want those unless the people saying they were too quiet just had cats or something else limiting the noise.
-I was also looking at a Borla adj. since some guy WAS selling one on CL for only $350 until the posting expired. I hope he reposts it because at least with the Borla I know I can put a cutout on and switch between muffled and loud. However I also know the straight piped side can get 150 dB loud from a friend who has one so that might be a bit much haha.
-I saw was that Hooker makes an over-axle true dual system and apparently it's one of the best sounding ones for our cars. The only downsides I see is that it has a 2.5" diameter pipe so I assume some modification would need to be done for the collectors, and new it's $900, might be cheaper used.

Also is it possible to buy separate x-pipes and flanged pipes to make your own over axle dual setup? Somebody mentioned this before I think, but I never saw anything specific.

Anyways, thanks for the advice y'all.

Here's what it currently sounds like:

front2back

So I was looking at the Hookers and apparently you can buy them new for like $780 and they hook up to 3" collectors, just the intermediate pipe is 2.5".
However they were made for Hooker midlength headers so I might need an extension pipe.

TXZ28LS1

iTrader: (5)

If you got that much money to spend id look into corsa or borla...

But if your trying to not spend alot consider hooker catback.

JD_AMG

Hooker catback is cheap and sounds great, tame at idle and low RPMs and pretty loud at WOT.
Magnaflow is a little more expensive, and quiet like you mentioned, never heard anyone say it was too quiet though, but if thats the case that is what a cutout is for.
Texas speed recently made their own catback and it looks really good and high quality and comes with a cutout already on the I-pipe.
The above mentioned Corsa which IMO is the best sounding catback for our cars(sounds down right exotic) however it is loud and can be raspy and is ridiculously expensive.

cookseyb

I have Corsa on my 2011 SS with American Racing Long tube headers high flo cats. Sounds Great a little loud but at cruise no drone, fits very well, took my exhaust guy about 45 min to install it. A bit pricey but you get what you pay for...

skimms98

iTrader: (7)

4" Mufflex system with a Spintech or Magnaflow muffler and be done.

z28_YOU_HO

iTrader: (7)

My car is running longtubes, offroad y-pipe and has 2 resonators on the exhaust before the axle then coming out the back. It is the PERFECT setup IMO. Its super quiet cruising with zero drone. Get on it and it barks back. NO rasp at all with it either and sounds very deep.

I've had 10000 different exhaust set ups and this is by far my favorite. I'll try to find out what kind of resonators after work

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Sounds good just the way it is IMO, other than the rasp. I would just put a couple Dynomax race bullets in the Y-pipe and another in the I-pipe to tame the rasp a bit and take the edge off in general.

If you're going to change the whole system, true duals would be a nice choice. This always sounds better than a catback with a comparable muffler type, IMO.

Magnaflow has had a couple different mufflers used in their F-body catbacks over the last 10-15 years, with some differences in volume. Their original design was too tame for my taste, at least when used with cats. With an ORY it sounded much, much better. The current one seems to sound better even with cats than the original version.

Spintech mufflers generally sound pretty good. I've only ever heard them in true dual systems though, not sure how they would deal with the rasp of a Y-pipe setup.

99SSJarhead

iTrader: (2)

I love my TSP true duals but they dump at the rear axle. If you aren't insulating your floor that means you are gonna have that noise in the car all the time. If you're looking for a quieter ride, I'd look elsewhere.

front2back

I asked an F-body Facebook site and people seem to really loveeeee their magnaflows. The posted some vids too and a WOT they're plenty loud. I think that may be my decision

gametech

iTrader: (1)

This may be a little different, but consider replacing the flowmaster with a Warlock muffler, but add an electric cutout instead of their removable bolt-on one. We did that on my neighbor's turbo Escalade a few years ago. It has a nice low tone when the cutout is closed, and flows great with it open. The cutout makes the muffler pretty much a straight through pipe exit. I will admit I have no idea how the flow compares to other mufflers with the cutout closed, but it didn't have much effect on the SD tune in any normal driving conditions.

ND2RACE

I have the Magnaflow on my Camaro, I had the Loudmouth before (way too loud). The Magnaflow is not quiet, it's not overly loud. My wife can still hear me coming down the street, I have a TSP 233/239 cam and Pacesetter longtubes/ORY. I have a friend with the Borla system otherwise similar to my car and it's nice too, but I'd buy the Magnaflow again.

Once you have a cam and longtubes, alot of exhaust systems are pretty loud, some people like that. I can tell you that I have heard the Magnaflow on an otherwise stock car and you wouldn't know the exhaust system was different. However on my car it has plenty of noise for me.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

A friend simply cut out the FM muffler from the catback and welded in a Magnaflow. Cost a little over $100 and sounds great. No need to spend the money on the entire Magnaflow catback which comes with those awful cannon tips anyway.

JOHNNY59

iTrader: (398)

Just installed the Hooker Black-heart True duals on my 02 SS and could not be happier. Was a easy install and no problem connecting to my long tubes. Has good ground clearance, even with the car being lowered. The sound is perfect for my taste. Paid $600 new for the system. Have a Magnaflow cat-back on my 98 T/A with stock manifolds and cats and its a little too quiet. Have the same Magnaflow cat-back on my 98 SS street/track car with race headers and ORY and it is loud at wot.

front2back

Good to hear about both systems.

I learned that everything axle back on my old exhaust is welded. Anybody know a good way to an install a different exhaust system even with this problem?

ironmikektm525

Sawzall should do it

99SSJarhead

iTrader: (2)

Yep, Cut from where the new piece will install at and have a shop weld where your current system will mate to the axle back.

chavez885

iTrader: (12)

I agree with this guy. I would add an electronic cutout after the y-pipe and weld in a new muffler.