I reckon that by gutting the silencers it will **** up the fluid dynamics of the exhaust and probably lose power... I you want them gone I'd get straight pipe fitted in their place, but be prepared for difficulty with MOT's/the police
I fitted a magnaflow high flow cat and straight through to a 4" stainless backbox.
Now before anything else I had jut the magnaflow cat fitted, and the difference was massive
Call placebo all you want but even my friends have noticed, theres a considerable kick at 5k rpm now where as before it was just more noise from the VTEC
That's not necessraily an improvement in power etc, you could probably gain 1-3bhp. It just means the exhaust is more free flowing and less back pressure, which can improve response, fit a CAI and you will have very good throttle response especially when wide open.
I did this on my old Integra Type R. I polished up my standard exhaust and gutted the back box. It looked superb but sounded terrible. Soon after I went out and bought a Fujitsubo LegR exhaust