The sound is going to be a matter of personal choice but I do prefer Rush, at least compared the Daytona model that I had. The Rush pipes are considerably heavier and I believe the heavier gauge sheet metal contributes to the deeper and, IMO, more "dense" sound. That said, both Rush and TM are excellent pipes and both offer baffle choices to control volume. And yes, the chrome shield has to be painted to match black pipes. You can remove it for powder coating or simply mask off and spray with hi-temp flat black, which is what I did. It seems to be holding up just fine.