The POM plate alters the sound profile for the better, a bit deeper with a satisfying clack. Does not change the feel much through. It is a bit pricy, but with the KBC coupon it is ok value.
I purchased the Carbon Fiber plate, and it's really quite a departure from the stock switch plate. I still recommend building with at least the plate foam, but it's got a nice stiffness with just a bit of softness from the gaskets and tight, dark acoustics. The one thing that concerns me is that for some configs, if you compress the assembly in certain parts, there's a bit of a squealing sound that comes from certain parts of the board, like the CF is rubbing against part of the interior case (yes it's aligned correctly and all the gasket alignment pegs are in place, and the case has been evenly torqued and disassembled/re-assembled to be sure). That said, the conditions required to make the sound happen aren't particularly realistic for day-to-day use, and I certainly never hear it when using the board so I largely forget about it.
At least when it comes to CF, this is a good choice to change the feel and acoustic quality of your CSTM80.
The CSTM came with a PC plate, and I wanted to see what the board sounds like with an alu plate. It makes the board really clack. Almost too clacky for my taste, so had to swap in some thockier switches. Still the finish on the plate is great quality and it is nice to be able to customize the sound so easily. Minus 1 star as $25 is pricy for plates for a budget board.
Enjoying the extra heft and the vibrant color of the plate. I've taken quite a liking to the pairing with Keysterine keycaps so the plate shows through the translucent keycaps.
(updated my comment after seeing your other comment and checking my boxed CSTM65 brass switch plate)
You should have received countersunk screws. You will need both countersunk screws and normal screws to affix the plate to the spacers and the spacers to the PCB.
jxliuDear jxliu,
Thank you for your prompt reply. My brass plate did come with the 6 countersunk screws that you mention. Only the brass spacers and 6 standard screws were included.
basically all my boards that I've had the option of getting F4R on lately have gotten it, this one didn't disappoint.
Aluminum plate doesn't work with plate mount switches, I tried drop phantoms on it and they weren't staying in place, switched back to the included plate with the same stabs and it worked fine, could use excess pcb mounts from other sets but pretty miffed lol