Remember, the bigger the generator, the more fuel its gonna use. The nice Honda and Yamaha's are sumwhat smart, in that they will idle up and down for the load, to save fuel. Exhaust isn't the only thing that is loud. I have a 4000 Onan that I built a custom exhaust that I could run into a hole in the ground to quiet it down. The exhaust was almost silent, but the gear noise from the generator was just as loud, Kinda like a Pete Jackson gear drive. Again, you get what you pay for.