Quieter Exhaust Recommendations

I currently have what I believe to be a 2 1/2" Borla exhaust on my 2003 Focus SVT http://www.borla.com/products/focus_catback_exhaust_part__140018.html and I am done with it. My wife wants to shoot me every time she drives in the car and I agree it is getting annoying, it is fairly loud at startup. I am thinking basically two replacement paths:

a) replace the current front resonator with a large round muffler - a Focus forum recommended a Magnaflow 12646 muffler.

b) just replace the current cat back with a custom 2 1/4" mandrel bent setup. Turbo muffler - Walker, other??? What resonator, or use a small round muffler?

I am not concerned about the HP loss of going down to 2 1/4" pipes, hey maybe I will find an extra pound of torque somewhere. Quiet is the goal. Thoughts or recommendations? Yes I am getting old.

I usually just replace everything with good ole-cheap straight mufflers.

Not sure on your replacement options mentioned, but is going back to stock an option? You're not concerned about the power loss, right?

A and B just sound overly complicated when C would be my first thought.

Id just run a dynomax VT. I have the same issue with the Z28, Im running one of the quietest cat backs, and because of the cam its still really loud.

I want to run a dynomax vt, if you do some research youll find that most of the stuff is negative, but apparently they have redesigned the flap and most of the people I talk to with the newer ones say they have had better luck.

I'm wanting to try a Dynomax VT on one of my cars, an n/a 3.8L with a a 3" exhaust which is currently sitting with NO muffler.

What is your current muffler worth to you? I may be interested in trying it on one of my cars. Is it a straight through design with a perforated tube and SS mesh packing? I'm just guessing here.

In reply to N Sperlo: When I think of straight mufflers, I think of glasspacks or something. Any more details on your recommended muffler type?

Regarding the Dynomax VT, that was on my radar too but I had read some grumblings about odd noises from the flap. When I researched them they appeared to be sized specifically for 6 or 8 cyls, maybe it is an airflow cfm rating or something.

For a quiet setup you want lots of packing (thickness and density), and sound waves running into things/themselves. The easy fix seems like the biggest non straight through muffler you can fit in the final muffler location.

I bought the FSWerks stealth exhaust for my Focus, I couldn't imagine how loud the non stealth version would be. It had two straight through round mufflers, and it sounded great, but you could hear me a mile away at WOT, and it was really droned at highway speed. I replaced the rear muffler with a Dunomax VT, it fixed the drone, and was pretty quite at idle, but it opened up too soon for my liking and was loud in normal driving, then the flap started rattling at idle. So I replaced it with a Headman turbo muffler, and I think it's just right, no drone, but you can hear the engine at WOT. Here's exactly what I bought.

Headman Turbo Muffler