AMD also told me id get about 10Hp just from fitting a cat back

..... of course they would say that, its a sales pitch plain and simple. They make more money selling a TBE than selling a full system
Consider forcing air through 6 panel filters on top of each other. Its quite restrictive. remove 3 of the filters and you have halved the restriction, so alot more flow for a lot less effort. You dont need to remove every single restriction to make the gains.
Its the catalytic converters and restricted bends that slow the flow down. The main restriction on stage 1 remap is keeping the exhaust gas temperatures sensible. Remove the pre cat, fit a more efficient second cat, increase the bore, the EGTs drop, you have a much increased flow to match so the map can be more aggressive.
Whilst you might make 1-2Hp difference additional gain by adding the cat back, its not really good value for money IMO. I think its wrong to tell people they need a full TBE for stage 2 when they dont. Loads of GTI, vRS, Cupra, and STs, VXRs etc drivers running just the downpipe whilst still making neigh on identical figures as the guys with the TBE's. As i have said Ive fitted both the downpipe and cat back separately on 2 separate stage 2 cars now with feck all gains notable after adding the cat back to the car apart from extra noise.
Obviously i will admit the full TBE will be the best in terms of weaning every last Hp out of your car, but people should know that they don't necessarily have to spend out £1000 of their hard earned cash straight away for stage 2, and can instead do it in stages. if they want the full system.
Also not everyone wants the noise.
Also regarding joining the 3" downpipe with the standard oem bore..Would it really slow down flow that much, i cant see it personally. Wouldnt it have the effect of a 'venturi' system and speed up?