Originally Posted by brancky3

I have non res and a Nismo catback, the hiss is pretty apparent at full throttle under 4-5k RPM, but you won't hear it up top. I don't really get any rasp or drone.

Edit: How much louder is the Stillen CBE compared to Nismo? I'd be happy to make a video of my car, just tell me what you want to hear

Originally Posted by Nick M

A lot of it just has to do with economies of scale.

If a co partners with a mass distributor or overseas manufacturer, they can afford to mass produce exhaust parts on the cheap, buying bulk materials, and using different automated manufacturing processes. They will tend to be on the lesser end of quality - maybe the welds don't last, maybe they do, maybe its a lower quality steel.

Someone like the guys at Fast Intentions do low volume, handmade stuff. They can't afford to sell stuff for nothing, they wouldn't be able to stay in business. But you have a co and people to turn to if you have any problems and you're supporting a US business that supports our hobby and industry. If you have problems with ebay test pipes, you're probably out of luck.

I ordered FI test pipes, expecting in early April.