Here's my take.
No matter what you do, run cats. Whether it's aftermarket or stock, going down the no cats road isn't as lucrative in power as it used to be.
When you do the back end, do a 2.5 catback. Some catbacks can be found relatively cheap, I forgot what I paid for my dynomax ultraflo welded kit, but it wasn't all that much.
If you have to pay to have two $60 mufflers installed it's going to cost as much as some entire catbacks that can be installed at home for free. Also when you install the kit with clamps, you can adjust them if need be.
If you really want to run no cats, get a modular bassani x pipe with cats, it also comes with cat delete pipes, which allows you to relatively easily switch back and forth. It's a hell of a lot easier than struggling to get a stock h back on and off.
Disclaimer: I do not run cats. I haven't in pretty much forever. I'm a lot older now and the car is too loud so I wish I had them.
I would just add them, but I have a mixture of years of exhaust parts on my car and the drivers side of my SS bassani x pipe is too close to the floor and trans mount to install them. I'd have to believe it will heat up the floor or melt the bushings in the crossmember.
With all that said, NJ does not inspect older than 1995 anymore, it was too costly for too few cars.
But when they did, my 2003 engine passed 1990 standards with no cats.