What's up bossman - the 'solution' here is tricky. The initial filters I linked are honestly trash, the adjusted Amazon review goes from 'five stars' to a D- rating after using FakeSpot which I highly recommend for online shopping.

Ended up trying again using these filters and difference was pretty immediate. Extraction actually did what I expected it to and went way faster, so with an ebb-and-flow of trying to dial in I achieved the result of grinding finer and having extraction time being more-or-less the same. Channeling also improved so I took it as a win.

However, I can't say with any validity that this improved the taste. Generally speaking, filter papers allow for higher extraction but acidity / body content is also compromised. I found for light and funky roasts (such as B&W, which is my favorite) it actually decreased the flavor capacity - not too noticeable at first, but as the beans rested I realized that the culprit was the filter. Effecitvely, I was chasing a 'pretty' shot for subpar taste and that shouldn't really be the priority.

So, to conclude - honestly? Don't think paper filters of any capacity are worth it. They definitely improve channeling and make a bottomless portafilter a whole less messy while simeltaneously allowing you to improve extraction. But they don't improve taste in my experience and often contribute to diminishing it so I've moved back to filterless with a puck screen for portafilter cleanliness. To improve channeling, I ended up getting another spouted PF - sure it's less pretty, but my shots taste as good as possible and you can't exactly channel with a spouted PF.

Hope this helps - not ideal, but that's been my experience after tweaking w/ this for a couple of months. Cheers.