When in the garage and no radio or other noise, I can barely here the fan. With a helmet or out sitting at a traffic light, the ambient sound is louder than the headlamp fan.
Because the Max5 lamps use an aluminum extrusion for the heatsink rather then braided webbing, they stick out the back making it necessary to install the 1/2" spacers to ensure the various wires to not touch the unguarded fans.
Because I ride in all weather, I bought new stainless steel 30mm screws, lock nuts, washers, and aluminum spacers. Total hardware cost from a local shop was $31.00. Further, I needed to drill out the spacers because they were inch-dimension with a slightly undersize hole. If you go this route, be very careful drilling them out with an unmodified drill bit, as it is likely to hog into the metal. To prevent this, see , which while explaining for brass, applies equally to aluminum.
In sum for me, $40 for the lamps plus $31 for hardware, total $71. If you use zinc-plated screws and reuse the provided nuts and washers, say $6 for screws and $8 for spacers, total about $54.
So far I am very happy with the lamps, though still waiting for the heat of Dallas summer to see how they hold up then.