Choosing an intake fan?

[KingBanana]

Hello

I bought a zalman z3plus case for my build a few months ago and i am very pleased with it, however, the quite Led fan that comes pre-installed at the front seemed to pull next to no air into the case, i even tried a stock antec fan from another of my cases but but there was still very little airflow.
on closer inspection, i found that the fan filter on the front panel is essentially 3mm of black sponge making it hard for the fans i had tried to pull in a sufficient amount of air while staying reasonably quiet.

My question is, What would be the best fan for my case?

The two fans i have considered so far are the Corsair SP 120:
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and the Silver stone air Penetrator 121:
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noise isn't too much of a problem because the case has a built in fan controller for 2 fans but less noise would be preferable.

Thank you

 

[WyomingKnott]

Can you replace the filter with something more porous?

 

[KingBanana]

Can you replace the filter with something more porous?

I was considering replacing the filter but there is no way to remove it without taking the front mesh off.
The sponge is between the front mesh and sort of hexagonal plastic support frame, so i cant remove it without potentially damaging the case.