Well I am basing my pricing off my brother's K/N setup which was 270.00. As for the looks, of course it looks better, people wouldn't pay the money they do if it looked like crap. If you have a larger throttle body, then by all means you should have a pipe. But what people don't understand is the basic physics of it all. There is a finite amount of air that can flow through the throttle body at any given time, the rubber pipe combined with the S&B filter (which has tested greater air flow than K/N filters) provides more than enough air to see significant power gains. As for the small eddies that my rubber pipe provides may reduce the HP increase by 1/4 HP ... acceptable loss to save all that cash. As for a "balanced" kit, it is a filter and a hose, there is no testing to it. More air = good, slap on a filter, make sure the pipe is bent properly, sell. Pretty much happens in that order. A Dyno only gives you numbers to market with in this particular case.
With a name brand, you are ALWAYS paying for a name. I work in the toy industry, where plush teddy bears literally cost 50 cents to make ... anyone remember the last time Walmart was selling 50 cent teddy bears? When you buy from K&N you pay marketing fee, salaries, promotional items, etc. etc. Bet the actual product is less than 20.00 to make. Now dont get me wrong, you pay for those things when you buy KKM as well, they just dont charge as much.
Lastly, a KKM setup with an eBay heat sheild will run 115-150 depending on your application, and I would be willing to bet money that on two identical vehicles (one with KKM and one with K and N) the dyno difference would be +/- .5 HP
