First Mechanical Advice

[Cats]

Hi guys, I'm sorry in advance, I'm sure you get this a lot, but I'm looking to get my first mechanical keyboard and this seemed to be the place to be. I've done some research but It's still not easy spending $150 on what I used to consider a $10 product.
 
I'd like a no-nonsense 87key board, build quality and longevity is more important than extra features.
I'm 70%(?) sure I want blue switches, clicky/tactile sounds great. however I'm unsure about the noise, a lot of my work gets done in the middle of the night with other people sleeping in adjacent rooms. How loud are blues in reality? Some things I've read imply it's basically playing a drum as you type while others claim it's pretty much the volume of a mouse click. Would browns be a better choice?
 
For these reasons I've been looking at a Filco Majestouch2, it really is a beautiful KB, but it is the most expensive of my options at $155. Would a Leopold FC700r be better for $20 less? I don't really have any idea what the difference between stabilisers is (or what they are, for that matter) but I've heard people complain about the ones on the Leopold along with the non-standard spacebar, hence my thoughts that Filco might be a better idea.
Are there any other major boards should I be considering?
 
Thanks a lot, everyone.

[Grim Fandango]

Hey , since you are going for a tenkeyless keyboard, and budget seems to be a real concern, one other option a lot of people seem to like here is the Cooler Master Quickfire Rapid. It basically looks like a Filco when it comes to the dimensions and shape. I used one side by side with my filco, and it is not all that obvious to me why I should have paid that much more for the Filco. Though unfortunately, if you live in Europe, they may only be available in limited switches and layouts (importing remains an option).

One thing people do not seem to like about it is the branding it has. Amazon started selling versions of the keyboard without the branding, and Cooler master is also coming out with a very similar new keyboard that does not have the branding and should be released this month, the Quickfire Stealth. It is also tenkeyless, and the price will be similar to that of the Rapid.

Blues are definitely loud. But of course, it is hard to convey the sound over a message board, or judge whether it would be a concern to you. WASD has a sampler kit available if you really want to get a better idea of the difference between switches.
http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/sampler-kit-1.html
Take into account that in addition to the noise of the switch, the noise of bottoming out makes typing a lot louder.
When it comes to the stabilizers, it is hard to recommend anything. Some people like the Cherry stabilizers some like the Costar stabilizers. When going between my keyboards, the Costar feel clearly better to me, but I have seen other people describe them as wobbly pieces of crap. They are also a bit more work when replacing the keycaps. But it is not as though one is clearly superior to the other. I do not think you should let the decision of you first keyboard be dependent on this unless you have some way of testing the two.

This gives you an idea of what stabilizers are
http://cdn.overclock.net/f/f6/560x371px-LL-f6313cd3_DSC_0982.jpg.jpeg
http://www.gnd-tech.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1877&d=1358297425

[Cats]

Thanks for the reply, that clears up stabilisers a touch, I suppose I shoulden't be basing my decision on the little things like that.

I should have mentioned I live in Australia, so supplies are quite limited. I can't find any site selling the Quickfire Rapid and international shipping would bring the price up to a point where it's not that much cheaper.
Local stuff is pretty much limited to Ducky, Filco and Leopold, as well as the standard gaming stuff like Razer.

[ksm123]

First of all, blues are the loudest of Cherry MX crowd, but by no means they are as loud as buckling spring keyboards.

In my opinion the loudest source of noise in Cherry MX based mechanical keyboard are bottoming out keys. If I type gently, a can type on Razer Black Widow keyboard with my GF not 2 meters away, without interrupting her sleep.

On the other hand, I use MX Brown based Das at work. It is not silent, I (usually) do not bottom out keys, but releasing keys also releases some noise. All in all my touch typing on Das is as loud as my coworker's hunt-and-pick typing on Lenovo T420 laptop.

[esoomenona]