Reviews for Antec SONATA Chassis

Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: Cool blue leds, rotating front ports cover, 120mm.fan, 380w supply, internal design and layout, piano black finish, front USB and Firewire and spkr/mic connections, every thing about it is excellent.

Weakness: Absolutely NONE!

I bought this case to fit in one of my entertainment center's cabinets and was extremely pleased with the new layout for the hard drives which makes them very easily accessed as well as silencing their noise. The entire design concept makes for better streamlining of the internal wiring creating better airflow and the small factory fan on my motherboard northbridge chipset is the loudest sound that can be heard coming from it.

I have already seen cooler chip temperatures starting out on my 1800XP even though this case is not heavily loaded.

I would hazard a guess that this case could even out cool my Antec SX 1030B tower, 550w "True Power", and AMD 3000XP, etc. which does run cool but is much larger and it is heavily loaded. It is certainly very much quieter.

The new layout makes the motherboard more accessable and easier to cool with less clutter from the wiring even in this small case.

The new 5.25 drive slot design makes the the front drives easier to remove and install.

The fine finish might be easier to damage on this case but this layout and size is perfect for a LAN PARTY.

This is just what you can expect from a fine company like Antec.

***UPDATE July 31*** I had NO problems connecting the front USB, Firewire, and audio ports to my AMD style mobo. They all work perfectly using the supplied instructions and nothing is loose.

***UPDATE Oct.14'03*** 5 months later with 0 problems it still looks GREAT in my entertainment center

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: Quiet Quiet Quiet!! Looks great. Drive trays make installation a breeze. Front 2-USB, 1-Firewire, 1-Audio In, 1-Audio Out

Weakness: rubber feet come off easy, but who cares! super glue the darn things back on. Some dust does get in from the holes on the sides where it reads ANTEC.

I have never had a system this quiet before. Putting it together was painless. This case is professionally built. The blue LEDs look cool. The case looks cool and conservative at the same time. Running Asus P4P800-Deluxe,P4 2.6 800MHZ, Radeon 9600Pro, DVD+CDRW drives, and the voltage readings are at 12.099-5.053-3.344. PSU works great!! Air filter in the front is very easy to pull out, and keeps the dust out. The drive bay door should have metalic hinges, instead of plastic. It could break off easy if you're not careful, but i haven't had any problems yet. Antec has got me hooked on their cases!!

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: Extremely quiet, nice blue LED up-front, nice black finish.

Weakness: Front panel wiring took a while to install.

Very quiet case that looks great. Front blue LED looks cool in the dark. Good air flow and easy access drive tray.

During install, I press the front door to far and the corner broke off. I contact Antec to explain what happened and they sent me a free replacement the same day. Great customer service.

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By member: captainhow - Feb 9, 2004

Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: Quiet,Quieter,Quietest! Great internal design and air flow. No tools! Easy access to Drives, which slide in and out easily through an easily removable side panel.

Weakness: None that I can find

I have been building systems for 15 years and this is by far the best case I have ever seen and built. Highest quality metal with all edges well machined and smooth. Comes with ultra quiet 380 W power supply and ships with a 5" fan positioned to keep the CPU well ventilated. Great design, and a work of art as far as cases go. Front panel has sound and Mic jacks, USB and firewire connectors. Nothing I have seen compares. Must have! Yes you can get a case for $50, but why not spend the extra $50 and get the best case on the market.
Bob

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: Silence, cool blue LED on front, front usb & firewire ports, nice built in power supply.

Weakness: None I can think of

I bought this case to house my new computer. I didnt realize how much more quiet it is than other cases. When it is on there is a slight whisper, barely noticable to anyone else in the room. The front blue LED's are also a nice touch. Sometimes that is the only thing that will tell you that the computer is on. The finish on the case is shiny and beautiful. A good buy.

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: I highly recommended this case.Quiet!Quiet!Quiet

Weakness: Not at all

The Best Case.It will give you big surprise and you will keep check you fan is still working or not IT SO Quiet .This case it so easy install hard drive and 5.25" slot.The important is afford price .

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: Quality almost everywhere, front panel firewire, an excellent power supply included.

Weakness: All minor, but include confusing front panel connections and plastic drive bay door.

This is an excellent case. It is always worth it to go with antec, as they dont sell stuff that they know is cheap. This case looks excellent, has all the features you could dream of, and antec implemented every option they could to make this case quiet.

Other people complain about scratchable finish - any case with finish this nicely done will scratch, as this case is basically finished with automotive quality finish, just treat it with care and it wont scratch. Although i havent had problems with scratching, the paint does show fingerprints horribly. Also, the front panel firewire connections are improperly labeled. The usb and audio connections are just fine and self explanatory though.

Also, the door over the front drive bay should be replaced with an aluminum one. The plastic looks cheap and could be easily broken.

These details are minor, however, and overall this case is excellent. This case has drawers for each harddrive and rubberized mounts to reduce noise. You also get a bag with a ton of screws in it, so if you lose a few you'll be fine.

Rarely will you come across a value like this, and despite the few imperfections, id reccomend this case to almost anyone.

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: QUIET, QUIET, QUIET, solid, side panel, front side sound, usb and firewire

Weakness: 'unfinished' look of front side i/o ports, rubber feet come off easy

This case is worth every penny! This computer resides in the family room and, with the old case, we would have to turn the TV up to hear over it. Now we can barely tell that it is even turned on. In fact, the faint hum of the monitor is louder than the case.

My only complaint is that the front side i/o ports don't look finished. When the plastic lid is open, you are looking directly into the case. It would look nicer if it was trimmed out a little more.

Well, I do have one more complaint. The rubber feet come off way too easy. In fact, one of them came off the first time I slid the case back into the desk cabinet. They seem to only be attached with a dab of glue.

Aside from those couple of annoyances, I would definitely purchase another one and would even recommend one to a friend.

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: As quiet as promised. Disk installation is convenient and easy.

Weakness: Documentation ranges from incomplete to poor to wrong. Tech support hard to access.

Installation went smoothly -- no bloody fingers and no cursing. However I found that the firewire port on the front panel did not work and USB 2 devices only worked at USB 1 speeds. Tech support requests submitted via Antec web site were ignored, but telephone support called back within a day (as they promised). Got a new front panel but now none of the ports work -- and there is no wirng diagram for the front panel ports to show how they should be connected.

Documentation for audio wiring is wrong. They also assert that they use a standard Intel configuration for the audio plug but this is simply false.

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: The power supply, no sharp edges, the design, and the piano black finish!

Weakness: front panel wires a little confusing, but not impossible to figure out

The case is gorgeous. Almost everything was easy to install. Only two challenges, the front panal wires and the rubber attachments for the interior fan. But the challenges were minor compared to everything else. It is quite, the system is cool, and it is a pleasure to look at. My wife doesn't even mind having it in the livingroom. The drive trays are great. They make working on the drives so simple. Antec but some good thought into this case. It is incredible.

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: Very quiet; Sexy black colour; Discrete and understated (if you like side panels and flouros - look elsewhere); Ease of fitting (& removing drives); Did I say quiet...?

Weakness: None of any significance.

I purchased this case to house an older system (P4 1.6g overclocked to 2.2g)as a video/mp3 server in my bedroom. I wanted something quiet so that I wouldn't have to crank up the sound to cover the case and fan noise. Did the Sonata deliver? You betcha! So much so that I have been giving dirty looks to my system in my study, which is housed in a Coolermaster ATC201 (considered by many as the Rolls Royce of cases). It may be on borrowed time....

Apart from the quietness and sexy looks of the case,credit goes to the layout of the case. Like many of the Antec cases, fitting drives and components is a breeze. The hard drives, floppy and optical drives use a rail system which attaches to the side of the actual drives. This makes fitting and removing a breeze. The isolation system of rubber grommets and trays used for the hard drive mounting certainly reduces the noise on my 2 Maxtor 40gb ATA133 7200 hard drives.

If quietness, looks and internal layout are high on your list of priorities for a new case, the Antec Sonata should be top of the list. Highly recommended.

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: Solid construction, good documentation, relatively quiet, cool blue led lights

Weakness: Side panels are easily scratchable.

This is a pretty solid and quiet case.
However, 12cm case fan is not really quiet.
Also major noise comes from CPU fan.
With upgraded CPU fan and fan speed control unit(vantec),
my PC is now very quiet. At 2000 RPM, I can barely hear.
Its PSU is very solid and quiet (single fan design).
I recommend this case for one who wants a quiet PC.

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: Quiet, solid, well built, good power supply, rubber grommets for HD mounts.

Weakness: Plastic Door, only 350W PS.

This is a great case. I switched after my old power supply died in my InWin case. I switched cases because that InWin case sounded like a hovercraft (2 ibm drives in it). It's not a case for modding, but for someone who want's a good quiet case that has some style to it.

It has rubber gromets that you use to mount your hard drives, which eliminates vibrations coming from the drives. Important if you have IBM/Hitachi drives.

The only downside is the low capacity power supply. Get a good quite 450W PS from Antech or Enermax.

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: 120 fans, good airflow, good PSU, quiet

Weakness: Antec holes, cheap plastic bezel

I don't get Antec designers. They are the only major case maker to adopt quieter 120mm fans over multiple and noiser 80mms. They have good airflow, good PSU and rubber grommets to quiet down your case. They put a high quality paint job on a reasonably priced case and give the case a stylish name. You have a near perfect case, then they send it to the final designer who must be a complete moron. Heres a idea, lets drill the word ANTEC into the side of a case marketed for a more refined consumer. The holes allow more noise to come out and have looks only a teenager could enjoy. I'm amazed they didn't paint the "Sonata" yellow and throw in a bunch of bright leds everywhere. The other problem, besides the cheap and familar Antec optical drive door is the even cheaper CHROMED plastic USB door. The chrome has already come off and really looks bad on this case. No door or a black plastic one would have been better. The "Sonata" is like a supermodel with a really, really big nose. These huge, easily changed flaws ruined this case for me.

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: also bading,i like it bacause it is very good

Weakness: also bading,i like it bacause it is very good

Totally engineered with quietness in mind, the Sonata features low noise cooling, vibration-absorbing drive mounts, and a special TruePower power supply. It won't disrupt your environment, and its sleek, piano black finish will fit your sty

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: Very nice finish, cool blue led's, front ports, well designed interior, includes 120mm rear exhaust fan, includes power supply, very easy and fun to work with

Weakness: Holes spelling 'Antec' on both sides of case are a poor choice on the part of the designer, door covering cd drives feels flimsy.

Overall a very good and elegant case. It includes all the extras (all the screws, even rubber screws to mount a fan and reduce vibration), has an air filter in the front to reduce the amount of dust going into the system and certainly looks stunning. I am very satisfied with this case and would recommend it highly.

Only a couple gripes in that the 'Antec' name which is drilled into both sides is unnecessary and takes away from the overall visual appeal of the case, but it's a minor point really. Also, the finish is beautiful, but also delicate. Fingerprints show up easily and it's also easy to scratch so be careful with it.

I would recommend this case very highly.

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Antec SONATA Chassis

Strengths: Very quiet, solid, smart looking

Weakness: Front panel connection panel and wiring, vulnerable finish

Really quite a quiet smart-looking case! Easy and solid 3.5" and 5.25" drive bays, quiet power supply, very good air flow capabilities, and smart, though vulnerable finish. A case worthy the Antec name.

It will show you which other fans are really noisy..... In my case I am switching to passive cooling on my video card. It doesn't make sense to spend bucks on quietness and accept such a little bugger-fan to kill the silence!

Disappointing is the quality of the front panel connections. More users complain about the simply incorrect wiring labeling (for the audio, firewire connections) and the non-Intel-compatible connectors. It is good to know it can be connected correctly in the end, but yet.....it is Antec isn't it? Also the fixation of the PCB is simply wrongly engineered. The plastic retaining clips meant to hold the PCB in place are not suitable to do the job, because.....they are placed too low.....and I wonder whether they will provide a good solution for the loose front panel PCB.

Antec support is correct and quite quick, but I get the impression they do not want to confirm the errors....

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Overall very nice, but...

Strengths: Quiet and good looking

Weakness: Front Panel audio problem, holes in side panel

This case, like all Antec cases I've seen, is sturdy with a carefully designed interior and stylish exterior.
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Dust through the logo holes
----------------------------
Early on, I noticed that a lot of dust was coming in through the holes in the side panels that make up the "Antec" logo. I covered them up with some black paper taped on the inside. Air flow is still good (probably better) -- Air comes in the lower front of the case, through the filter, and out the back (instead of just going in through the logo and out the power supply).
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Front Panel Audio Problem
--------------------------
18 months later, I began using headphones connected to the front panel and noticed that the left and right channels were reversed; but when no headphones were connected, the sound was correct coming from speakers connected at the back of the computer. At first, I thought I must have just switched the L and R wires on the motherboard end of the front panel audio cable (and no, I didn't just have the headphones on backwards), but after reviewing the pin diagrams, I found that everything was correct at that end. So I removed the front panel and looked at the connections at that end. After some testing (proper pin diagram was unavailable), I found that it was simply wired incorrectly. I fixed it by wiring it as such:
.
Before (incorrect):
Pin 1 - red
Pin 2 - brown
Pin 3 - orange
Pin 4 - green
Pin 5 - black
Pin 6 - yellow
Pin 7 - no connection
Pin 8 - Key (no pin)
Pin 9 - black (larger than other wires)
Pin 10 - no connection
.
After (correct):
Pin 1 - red, microphone input
Pin 2 - brown, microphone bias
Pin 3 - yellow, right channel audio in from motherboard
Pin 4 - black, right channel audio return to motherboard
Pin 5 - green, left channel audio return to motherboard
Pin 6 - orange, left channel audio in from motherboard
Pin 7 - no connection
Pin 8 - Key (no pin)
Pin 9 - black (larger than other wires), Ground
Pin 10 - no connection
.
Disclaimer: I don't work for Antec, and the methods described above may void your warranty and/or cause irreparable damage to your equipment.

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Antec Sonata mid-tower case

For those seeking simplicity in a quiet home-built PC, the Sonata is a good choice. Buy a Sonata case / power supply. Pick out the quiet hard drive of your choice, CPU, motherboard, VGA, RAM, optical disks, etc -- and any top ranked HS from our recommended list with a Panaflo 80mm L fan. Assemble everything and run both the Panaflo and 120mm from the fan-only output of the PSU. Make sure the CPU...

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