Part of me hesitates to open it, like Smeagol clutching his Precious - but I do intend to mount it on a keeb at minimum. I’m not sure just yet which its destined-for; I have [checks notes] three purple keebs at the moment, but I’m not sure any quite live up to the pedestal Phantom sits upon in my mind… when I figure out where this set is going to live I’ll definitely be posting some photos.
@HungerMechanic - that’s a good question! I’ve tried and liked it with the stems found in the Ocean Blue and Lavender Purple, but I don’t think I’ve tried the Mallo ones yet… [ shuffling noises from closet ]
Alright, time for some Saturday afternoon science…
I took a pair of Mallos and stem-swapped them with a Bobagum and a U4T (black version). In all but one case I kept the springs paired with their respective stems; the Mallo spring wasn’t quite strong enough to give a satisfying return in the tactile Boba housing, so I replaced it with a two-stage long-boi from a Tecsee Diamond.
General initial thoughts:
- The stems do fit, as expected
- Leaf noise improved in all instances
- Gazzew housings do improve the stability
- Mallo housing combos surprisingly decent as well
- TL;DR: If you already have the parts it may very well be worth doing the swap
Combo specific thoughts;
-
Mallo housing w/ U4T stem & spring: expected a crunchy mess, got a surprisingly balanced medium-strong tactile instead. There’s a little bit of audible spring-wiggle and definitely some leaf-squidge, no surprise - and there’s a fair bit of wobble, too. Still, it doesn’t suck and that’s more than I expected.
-
Mallo housing w/ Bobagum stem & spring: feels more smooth and crisp than a stock Bobagum, but also less stable / significantly more wobbly. Some faint metallic squidgeyness; I’m assuming it’s the leaf - still very quiet overall; lacks the audible “swish” factor stock Bobagums have.
-
Bobagum housing with Mallo stem and spring: compared with a stock Mallo, this combo is a lot more stable if a bit less smooth. There is indeed noticeably less leaf noise; there’s still a little but it’s in the background and a lot more clean.
The feel is also more clean and firm; unsurprisingly a more tightened-up experience. Bump strength and overall weight are higher with the frankenswitch. In the hand, sound is higher-pitched but again significantly more clean. A light, crisp clack with a very light accompanying “tink”, as opposed to the wrinkley bing-bong tone that goes with the Mallo’s harder, lower-pitched clack.
-
Boba Black housing with Mallo stem and Tecsee Diamond / Jadeite spring: felt underwhelming with the Mallo spring, but very nice with the long “dual-stage” one. If there’s any metallic noise at all, it’s a faint “tick” of the bump clearing the leaf. The combo is a very clean and snappy medium tactile.
It has a very indexed “on/off” character without being overly firm or punchy; the bump is sharp but not all that strong. This usually means a kind of wiggly character, either in the feel, sound, or both - but not so here. It’s not totally free from chalkiness or metallic wiggle, but I think it handles those characteristics better than most “medium sharp” tactiles I’ve tried.
Compared with the Bobagum version, the “tink” is replaced with a more faint “tick” and a more clacky up-stroke. In terms of feel, it’s unsurprisingly both heavier and a bit more firm on the bump.
These are a decent enough combo that I’m inclined to try a handful in a macro pad and go from there. I think the stems KTT have been making are low-key remarkable, with the other components catching-up at varying rates. So far across the board, the leaves have been the weakest point, but rarely if ever a total weakness - instead more often being a mix of good feel and iffy sound.
So far, all of the KTT-made stems I’ve tried with Gazzew housings have made for good combinations, which is pleasant and refreshing in the face of old favorites having apparent issues these days.
I can’t say for certain what the deal is, but Gazzew has repeatedly confirmed there have been no spec changes with his housings - so that leaves either re-tooling or simple inconsistency on the part of stems like Kailh Polias & Halos. It seems some significant degree of cherry-picking is now necessary to ensure a good batch, which is also true of at least some generation of Ink switches as they relate to Gazzew stems.
Say all that to say, my experience with the recent KTT stems and Gazzew housings so far has been consistent - and consistently positive.
If you have the parts, maybe throw a few together and see what you think. At minimum I’d say it’s indeed worth the time to give it a try.