As with most things in life, everything is subjective...it really depends on the individual. One man's noise is another man's music.
This is my third time around with an '88 Esprit (second time with the one I have now) and in that time, I have done stock cat with stock muffler (the Langford used on the '88 was unique and had a much louder, deeper tone or so I've been told...all I know is that I like it), stock cat with Magnaflow stainless muffler (gorgeous, but sounded like a Buick), stock cat with Magnaflow racing muffler (like a super thin glass pack with minimal packing...I liked it, the next owner hated it and stupid me shipped my previous stainless muffler to him in Texas, he could have bought a new one for the shipping I paid), stock cat with straight pipe, aftermarket cat with straight pipe, gutted cat with straight pipe, and aftermarket cat with stock muffler which I have now.
Believe it or not, the stock '88 exhaust actually sounds pretty good, nice and robust...pretty loud for a stock system.
Anyway, as for no cat (mine was gutted) with straight pipe, I personally enjoyed it. It was super loud and had a great tone...it really screamed. With today's sound regulations, you'd be black flag'd in an instant on the race track, but for the street, it was great fun! Reactions from my good friends ranged from..."Wow...what did you do to your car...I LOVE IT...IT SOUNDS LIKE LAGUNA SECA!!!!!!!!!!" to other good friends who didn't care for it one bit.
It certainly makes the car rowdy and raunchy...a friend who is the owner of a body shop said it sounded like a Harley although I never quite saw the connection. Then again, when I test drove a stock '95 S4s for another clubmember and rev'd it up, a non-Lotus friend said it sounded like a motorcycle, so who knows...LOL
Personally, I have always loved a loud exhaust on all my performance cars so I thought it was fun and fantastic. Probably a bit too much to hear on a daily basis, but I don't use my toys for that purpose.
I have other friends that did it as well and some of them turned them back to stock real fast...one of them felt that it made his Esprit SE sound cheap. In some ways, I have to agree as it no longer sounds polished or sophisticated. I sure reveled in taching that motor out down the street though...hearing that motor scream with the blow off valve sneezing after every shift...heavenly!
So ultimately, the answer to your question is...it depends. Everyone has a different perception and threshold for noise. Like I said earlier...one man's noise is another man's music. You might love it, you might absolutely hate it...LOL My advice would be to see if you can find any clubmembers in your area that have a setup similar to what you are looking to do on your own car.
If this is not possible, see if you can fabricate or have one made with a flange so that you can put it on and off at will. Purely for 'test' purposes, of course, since this may not be legal in your area. On mine, I had a 'gutted' original cat from a previous owner that for sake of posting I will say, had no idea was gutted. It is illegal of course.
The current setup on my car is an aftermarket cat (Magnaflow with CA EO Smog #) with the factory Langford muffler...I actually really like that muffler which is really unusual for me since factory original mufflers on my cars usually get upgraded right away. It is really heavy though, contrary to what a Lotus should have. I have a feeling that for this particular car, this will be the final setup with no more exhaust modifications as I finally found what I believe is best. Doesn't mean I don't miss raising hell with that loud combo...LOL
Since you said that the neck on the current cat on your car is smaller or in some way less than par, I say it couldn't hurt to experiment one way or the other.
Roy
Loud pipes save lives!