I live in Michigan and we don't believe in emissions. So I went with the cheapest option, muffler delete, and it's never led me wrong. I did this for my old 2017 Silverado 1500 LT 5.3L (single exit) and on my current 2023 Silverado 1500 RST 5.3L (dual exit).
The 2017 cost me $80 and the 2023 cost me $100. Definitely has some rumble from cold start or if its back up to a wall/garage, but there's hardly any drone and is pretty quiet when you're just cruising.
I will recommend the same thing I told my friend, I would try this first before spending a lot of money on a nice exhaust (he couldn't decide what brand either), because worst case scenario is you burned $100 and you end up putting an exhaust kit on anyways, but best case scenario is you get the exhaust sound you were hoping for while saving thousands.
End of the day its your truck and your call just my 2 cents
