Sounded exactly the same.... This is the only one I ever dealt with that was not black tips.... I didn't notice a peep of a difference. Sounded awesome like they all do. Until I did some research, I actually thought this one was the better one, because they hardly ever have it... I have dealt with 15 or so RS6s in my time, and they all had black tips. Strangely it sounded just as good. And on the outside, looks the same. Maybe we should compare some part numbers and see what the deal is.