exhaust size?

I am having a custom exhaust with a straight through muffler put on my STOCK (besides CAI) non VTEC 96 HB. I dont want it real loud just want a nice tone and better breathing. I'm not using a resonator so I was thinking of going with just 2 inch, cause I think 2 1/4 would be too loud with out a resonator. What do you guys think?

Ok, on the other forums I checked everyone says 2 inch is the best for everyday driver with less noise. I 'll just get the 2 inch.