headers or mid pipe first?

i am in the process of purchasing a pair of magnapak exhaust and having an muffler shop weld me on some 3" cats. i was looking at bassani headers with them first but i have heard you can loss hp withouth a mid pipe and full length headers. is this true? and any suggestions on a mid pipe. this is for my 2004 gt.thanks.

save the money on the 3 inch cats and fork out the money for the full lengths with a matching x or h pipe with converters

yea, theres no point in 3" cats if you dont replace everything with 3" tubing. not to mention that 2 1/2" is plenty big enough until you get pretty wild.

unless youre going long tubes. id say forget the headers. the shories that are out now show minimal gains at most on a n/a car. just get a mid pipe of your choice (either off road or catted) and whatever catback you get.

You will see more of a noticable difference by replacing the stock-H pipe than anything else in the exhaust system.

thats what i was thinking

thanks for the info guys i think i am going with mac flowpaths and mac pro chamber h pipe magnapaks are too poppy for me.