As written by John Shapiro of Cruisin' Times Magazine:
What's the one thing that separates an original car from slightly modified car, other than it's looks? It's the sound it has when it goes by. For years, hot rodders and customizers have cut and re-routed exhaust systems to give their car that personalized sound. Custom guys wanted a Cherry bomb or Glasspack muffler that gave them that echo sound when they'd rev their motors once they went beneath an underpass. Hot rodders needed a slim muffler, like Smitty, not only because it took up less room under the chassis but also because they were very inexpensive. Today ProStreet guys wanted the same sound of a ProStock drag car as it rolled into the water box, a sound some believe was first achieved by Flowmaster. Today, you can get all those sounds and more plus expert service from a company who's employees are performance oriented, a company called Rainbow Muffler and Brake. Originally Raine Hrovat (pronounced Rain-ee), moved from Maple Hts. to Michigan and married a muffler shop mogul, who at the time had about 25 MufflerMan shops. When they decided to expand outside the state, they discovered that many businesses had infringed upon the MufflerMan name. Instead of battling everyone in the courts, they opened out of state stores under the Rainbow Muffler & Brake logo. After opening new locations in Florida, Indiana and Illnois, they moved into Ohio with the help of Raine's brothers, Bob and Joe Hrovat. Joe operated the first Rainbow shop in Maple Heights on Northfield road for 15 years before selling out to the current Rainbow group. Raine moved to Nashville where she established herself in the contemporary Christian music industry and now works with Rainbow's marketing division and co-produces a local cable TV talent show. In 1998, Bob took over and changed the face of Rainbow by approaching the performance industry. Rainbow is now staffed with master technicians with performance experience that build and race their own vehicles - and most important to this industry - can custom bend exhaust systems. That immediately separated Rainbow from all other competitors. Rainbow exhaust experts can discuss a customer's performance requirements and recommend the exhaust system that best meets their specific needs. In this market, the sound, the tone, the look and the performance are all necessary components to make a collector car vehicle complete. Although, mufflers have different external shapes, the internal designs are almost identical from manufacturer to manufacturer. Basically there are two different designs for mufflers. One is a chambered design or hollow shell with little "rooms" that capture and reflect the sound inside the muffler which gives the vehicle that echo type sound. Chamber mufflers have very little back pressure. This allows the engine to breathe easier, therefore increasing the engine's performance and efficiency. A standard stock muffler is a chamber design. Manufacturers have designed formatted chambers that allow better flow and enhanced sound altering qualities. Chamber designs vary from basic open spaces to "V" style obstructions. Most manufacturers have a performance chamber muffler that approach or exceed the standards set by the innovators. The other is a "Flow Through" design. These mufflers do not have chambers. Instead they are nothing more than a straight piece of perforated tubing that travels directly through the muffler from one end to the other. The perforated holes in the tube allow the sound from the exhaust to escape into the muffler. The muffler is "packed" with sound absorbing filler that absorbs the sound. The tone, which is controlled and muffled, varies greatly from the echoing chamber style muffler. A flow-through muffler has a deep, solid sound. And again, most manufacturers have a performance flow-through muffler that all basically have similar performance ratings but different tones because of the different types of packing. This muffler also increases engine performance and efficiency. The amount of "chambers" and "baffles" in a muffler also effect the loudness and tone of the exhaust. Stock OE mufflers have three chambers and three baffles. Baffles are perforated tubes that run the length of the inside of the muffler. This allows the sound to be dispersed more evenly in the chambers. The sound bounces around more, causing sound waves to interfere with each other and cancel each other out. The more chambers and baffles, the more opportunity there is for frequencies to change tone and loudness.
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