JB,
The cutouts sound great and I'm very happy with them although I doubt they sound as good as a quality race muffler would. At full open they sound exactly like open headers with a hp engine as if ur at the local dragstrip... really, really awesome. Obviously it's only for show (or race) so I never run it that way for more than a minute or 2.
When they r only slightly cracked open, say 10 or 20% they sound great and I always drive this way. The idle is the best part, really makes the motor sound like a race motor with a big cam.
The downside to the cutout and mostly at around 1/2 open and at certain rpm's it can sound like an old pickup with a blown out muffler. However, I still prefer it to the stock mufflers but it is borderline too loud for the street.
It's also nice to be able to close them when I need or want to be quiet such as early mornings in the neighborhood. The Magnaflow straight-thru's are still far too quiet for my taste but a much improvement over stock and they sound really good themselves, sorta like an old time street rod with chambered exhausts.
The cutouts are fun and versatile but also more complicated and expensive. If ur not sure about them but also want better sound, I'd suggest a race muffler or a slightly baffled performance muffler, and forget flowmasters cause they're not stainless. I like these guys:
http://www.spintechmufflers.com/spin...ntechindex.asp
Their Stainless mufflers are made to order so they take a few weeks but they have a new style out not listed on the website. I think he said it has just 2 baffles so it'd be pretty loud but not excessively...I think.
Have fun, Rich