Hello,
Been lurking a long time.. Thinking about getting a mechanical KB for years.
Initially I got a Filco full sized MX brown. Great keyboard, but the brown switches were a bit too light for me. It was a little loud, too, so I got o-rings for it, which I did like.
But, I wanted to try a firmer switch. I got the leopold 660m with the MX Clears and love it! I have no idea why I bough a full sized board the first time. I though I'd miss the number pad, but not at all. I do miss the enter key on the number pad, because I often used it while using the mouse. Not anything to cause regrets, though. The arrow keys are a need for me, so this is the perfect small keyboard.
About clear vs brown switches.. I mentioned the browns are too light for me, but it really depends on the type of typing I'm doing, or my mood. It's easier to be quiet if I type carefully on the browns (as in at night w/ my girlfriend sleeping on the couch next to me). I can see where the browns could be better for long term relaxed typing as well as skilled fast typing (I'm not that skilled). The clears are a little too firm when I'm tired and have a lot of typing to do. They are great though for normal typing and especially good for when I'm banging away typing as fast as possible. I always bottomed out on the browns, but the clears, not so much. They get firmer as you go, so it's easy to stop after the bump w/out bottoming out. No need for the o-rings, either, because I'm not hitting the bottom.
To be honest I mostly joined so I could post a pic of my keycap decision and say thanks for all the advice I have indirectly gotten by reading the forums.