Here's the tale... I can have a Corsa sport exhaust at my house for about $1300. It sounds great and offers a claim of 120% increase over stock flow... They have the black tip, but it is unclear the actual finish (PC, stain, black chrome, etc.) Chatted with 3 vendors and no one knew... so I I have emailed Corsa directly. BTW, they come with the XO pipe and a performance X-pipe piece is extra.
The option I am most strongly considering now is the boost activated cutout that Mike developed (really sexy) which PPE is making a jig for now so it can be mass produced... by the time it's actually installed and working I anticipate it will be at least $1K more than the catback, BUT it completely removes all flow resistance past the downpipes (which I have already replaced) and can be installed with a solenoid on the actuator line (already in use by PPE on a different car). so It will only open when I want it to... or not at all as needed. I suspect any HP gains related to flow will be better with the cutout. I'd just replace the stock tips with black chrome.
So... my wallet is out.. but it's clear that there's not much point in having both both next up is my ceramic coated hotpipes and a tune.... This is not far behind though, LOL