Exhaust questions

[Dino]

I have a '71 440hp with a purple cam.  It has an edelbrock performer with currently an eddy 1407, soon to be replaced for a TQ.  It also has non coated headers but they fit and function just fine ever since I fixed that leak.  My car is an (almost) daily driver, never sees the track and rarely goes into high rpm.  I have a 26" tall tire in the back, soon to be replaced with a 28" tire, and it has 2.96 gears hooked to the 727.  Cruising is the name of the game here.

My exhaust has no X or H pipe, it's just straight pipes going into some kind of mufflers.  The exhaust leaks at the collectors and the pipes are a nice shade of dark brown.  They don't seem to have any leaks apart from the ds collector but it's so bad, the Percy gasket couldn't even fix it.  Seems that whoever installed the exhaust forgot to install some brackets.  The exhaust is only bolted to the collector and the rear tips are hanging from the rubber...hangers.  There's nothing hooked up anywhere else so the pipes move all the time creating the leak.  My tips are always crooked and I can grab them and turn them a bit, that's not normal.

I'm sure it can be fixed but it's probably a better idea to just get a new system.  You guys seem to love the Dynomax ultra flows so I'll likely get a pair of those. 

I know that the engine would be happier with an H or X pipe in there but to be honest I really really like the sound it makes right now.  It seems that with the X pipe I'm going to lose some of that sound while with the H pipe I retain some of the deeper tones.

Does anyone have any comparison sound clips of before and after X or H pipe addition?

This may be a stupid question but when I'm sitting in my car at a red light, the idle kinda shakes me up.  It's not so bad that it makes me sick but it's very noticeable.  Will the scavenging effect of a crossover pipe change that?  As sweet as that exhaust sounds while cruising, it's a bit much at idle...but the actual sound is music to my ears.  A compromise here would be in order.  Same sound quality but a little less in your face. 

I always hear from people with X or H pipe that is sound great when you open it up...but I rarely open it up.  I run my car on 35 and 55 mph roads all the time so that gives you an idea of the sounds I hear.

Has anyone gone from straight pipes to crossover and was disappointed in the reduced volume or are we talking a few db here. 

[Hard Charger]

a cross over pipe will only improve the sound and performance. x or h