I’ll agree to your sentiments about the dampener with the Kara. It was lackluster for sure when I briefly tried it.
Alu Plate + Internal Weight was quite nice, but PC + Weight was just as good if not better, but which combo being better might depend largely on sound/feel preferences and switch choice.
I have a dampener coming with my U80 SEQ2…so I’ll have an extra dampener…almost enough incentive to have a 3rd Rama board to use the dampener for and just be a Rama fanboy. XD
Tape mod might help…? not sure. @donpark mentioned that the tape mod on POM plate wasn’t great in his experience, so it’s possible it might not work well with a PC plate too, but might be worth a try.
It’s too early to generalize I think. We need more people experimenting and sharing their observations. Tape mod is something we can try quickly and undo so, hopefully, we’ll soon have a better understanding of the factors involved.
My opinion is that the weight is worth it but not sure about the dampener. If choosing one or the other, I’d recommend the weight. I haven’t tried that many things with the board yet though.
I haven’t tried linears in the board or silent switches.
TBH, I hear the difference although it isn’t the most significant, it’s there. Honestly I like the dampener but can understand why some people wouldn’t like it.
I haven’t tried the weight and think it could be really nifty though. I still switch to my Kara somewhat regularly since it’s just an easy typing experience with a “clean” feel.