A few bits of plywood later (I’ve opted for 7mm and 17mm thickness ply, both on the Modulor), I’ve knocked up a long, thin box with adjustable plenum spaces, a 240V AC computer-fan (mid-quality – I’d ultimately love to use some really quiet ones like in the G5 PowerMac…), and a whole lot of fluoro tubes to play lighting baffle and colour temperature configuration tricks.
The intention? To see how noisy these inline computer fans can be, measure how much air they manage to throughput at various speeds, and at various temperatures, and see if integrated fl. lighting will work as a prime source in the project.
Real backyard-scientist stuff, I know! Anyhow, good lessons learnt: placing even a cheap fan on the most basic of suspension makes all the difference in transmitted noise. I think a hotch-potch of inline fans in a custom designed duct (with fabric socks ala DuctSoxâ„¢ to help balance the system) is feasible and should be quiet enough, and (after some judicious balancing of colour temperature – no higher than K96) fluoro lights work really well with raw ply!