thunder chief is an old man with bad hearing already.
i kept the silent choice

Well if that's the case then Silent is better.

Medical studies have shown that it isn't so much prolonged loud noise (road traffic,,, compressors,,, machinery)as it is a percussive noise..(gun shots... jackhammers.. air hammers.. hammers striking metal etc)..that causes hearing loss. The small hairs inside the inner ear ( not the big hairs I have growing on the outside,, being an old man)... these small hairs that detect sound tend to bend over and lay down in a attempt to protect themselves during long loud noises... but when they are struck by a loud percussion... they are sheared off and don't re-grow... hence .. hearing loss... Wind noise will give you some temporary hearing loss... but loud exhaust will cause permanent loss... sorry for the bad news... but I've lost some hearing in my left ear from rifle and shotgun blasts while hunting in my redneck past....

Keep it. It never hurts to be couteous when near people who don't appreciate the sound of a highly strung V-8 like we do

I haven't read thru all of the 70+ posts, but I'm sure I can guess the mixed responses. I used to be a nay-sayer on the silencer option but now that I've had it in my last two boats I wouldn't now go very long without. As someone said as I skimmed thru, after running hard across the bay for a period of time your ears are ringing a bit. It's nice to tone it down a bit. Plus upon making a powerboat entry into any channel/harbor it's nice to be able to quickly quiet yourself down so "Smokey-the-Duck" will take his eye off you as you go by. Also those late nights trolling down the canal towards home (especially for those of us livin on the water) so the neighbors can't tell if it's you or one of those constant flows of fishing boats coming & going. Finally it is nice around the restaurant/bar docks when entering a tight spot or leaving to better be able to communicate with whomever you have onboard helping with the line handling. Then as you're clear pop it on to impress the gawkers. THE best reason is that it makes the wife happy when in the no-wake zones and she's lying on the sunpad and wanting to listen to the stereo/CD while I talk on the FRS with my buddies in their boats with THEIR wives/girlfriends doin' the same thing....

I just noticed, this should be my 2000th post! So what does that get me?...

Obviously - no life.

I have been trying to decide if I wanted to keep mine....I just got done putting on new Revolution Marine Exhaust and at first I was going to take it off. But then again here is how I look at it....

If when leaving anywhere at LOTO at night and your in a flashy and Loud boat you will draw the attention of the Water Patrol more than a boat that is Quiet.

Also, Like you, it's not a big deal to me. But, when we go to sell the boats it might be a option that is important to the buyer.

I'm trying to keep mine. I've had to do some modification's but I think I can get it to fit back on!!

LOUD

Loud gets it for me. I want you know i was there i am coming there or i am around there. Plus the raw sounds is cool and i just personaly like it
-Mike