Noise was definitely an issue as most everyone on the forums agreed, so some sort of hushbox was definitely in order.
While I’m sure the Whisperflow is a great product, $400 just ain’t in the budget and I felt fairly confident that I could build something myself that would do the job satisfactorily. After finding a very quiet old fan while cleaning out my Grandad’s workshop I started collecting parts on various trips to Home Despot and ordered an optic glass lens from Edmund Optics. Total cost? About $50.