Photos look good. Some of them appear to be washed out, but that may be due to the White backgroud with dark subject matter. Very nice detail on all the case peices. Looks like a quality case. I would agree that the drilled Antec logo is a bit much.

ooooo, nice backdrop. looks like a high class porno shoot! :P

sweet case. i love my antec case. the make the good shizz.

lol porno shoot.

yea antec is great quality :)

also notice that we no longer put numerical scores on the reviews, we just put pros and cons and let reader make up their own score :)

Hi,

I recently purchased one of these excellent cases, and have just completed my 'build'.

The side panel was secured with ordinary screws though, rather than thumbscrews, so perhaps this is a very recent change.

Also, it is not necessary to remove the front panel (which is not all that easy anyway, as the other side panel is fixed) to access the drive mounting rails... just remove the appropriate blanking plate!

I found the front USB connections a bit of a pain though, as they are all single wires, rather than in a block, so you need pretty small fingers!

The sideways mounting of the hard drives was a good idea I thought, and makes for a much neater cable arrangement, particularly if you have them coming out of the 'back'. Can't recall whether or not you mentioned the rubber mounting 'gromets' (and special screws) for mounting the hard drives, but I thought that this was another nice touch, and one which should help to minimise vibration and noise. It was good to get a printed manual also.

I am actually based in the UK, not that it should make any diference, but I enjoyed reading your review!

Whoops... just realised that I hadn't mentioned the photos, but yes, they looked very profesional, I thought!

-David-

Thanks. About the USB connections, those are always a pain, and I usually just choose not to use them. Though if you can get them plugged in it makes it very convenient. On my current case I have my top i/o port USB connections (one of them at least) plugged in but I didnt plug in the sound or firewire :)

Glad you liked the review and pics. :)

A question about the side panel holes that you say can let dust enter the case (the "Antec" stamping) --

Couldn't those holes be covered over on the inside of the case by tape? (There are few problems that can't be fixed by a little duct tape. :wink: )

Actually, he is working on a mod to keep air from entering the holes, but providing a little style too.

I realize after looking at it some more that there is a front drive door that opens to the left. I cannot use that due to the location of my PC. Is that door easily removable?

are you talking about the door on the front of the case? If you can't open that door, how will you be able to open the CD-tray, even if you remove the door. Any door can be removed, its whether or not you want to be able to put it back in that is the question.

Though this door could be removed, it is not designed to be removed/replaced. I think if you remove the door you will break the plastic hinges.

Yes, that's the door I am talking about. My PC is tucked into a space by my right leg with a cabinet a few inches to the front and right of it. So my access to the front of the PC is coming from the left side of it. So the door on this case (opening to the left) blocks my access to the front of the PC.

If I have to break the hinges to remove the door, it is probably not worth it since I couldn't replace the door if I ever move the case.

Thanks for your help.

no problem, glad i could help. btw, you could always try to put the case somewhere else? :)

No, that's the "perfect" location under a corner shelf between my desk and a printer stand.

Have you looked at other "quiet" cases such as the GMC NEO Classic?

no, I can't say I have. However, any case that can mount 120mm fans is basically a "quiet" case... its just that the hard drive wont be sitting on vibration-absorbing cushions etc...

They sell these things at my local Staples now... I thought it was kind of an odd thing to see there, but low and behold, there it was. They also sell 80mm fans and some 3 led ones at that. Ofcourse they were overpriced and everything, but it's a step in a very scary direction. :P

lol staples? thats cool :)

Hi Y'all,
I have also purchased the sonata and am happy with it.The only thing which keeps me from being perfectly happy is the confusing array of pins \socketsfor front panel connectors(The socket doesn't fit on a7n8x-deluxe mobo).

Can anyone suggest the right combination of the small sockets provided with sonata cable with the pins on the mobo?

Is there a way to connect chassis fan to mobo to monitor its speed?

Any answers Docs?

I think there are a total of 3 fan locations to monitor speed. Just connecting the single yellow wire should do it.

this is a problem with your motherboard rather than an issue with the Antec Sonata. Some motherboards have several 3-pin connections for fans, others have very few. For plugging in the Antec Sonata's case fans, i recommend using the 4 pin molex connector and plugging the fan into the Antec PSU's CASE FAN ONLY connectors. This will limit the speed of your 120mm fans so that they dont produce a lot of noise.

Thanks for the help but still I could not see any wires in the case fan of sonata to be attached to mobo.I could locate the pins on the mobo but there is only power connector on the chassis fan.
Is this normal for all sonata cases or I have got a freak?

sorry if i didn't make it clearer...

a 4-pin molex is the power connector you are referring to. the 120mm case fan is meant to be plugged into the power supply. Make sure to plug it into the power connector that has "Case Fan Only" written on it. This plug is meant for case fans, it controls the fan's speed (depending on temperature) to reduce noise.

You do not plug in the case fan on the Antec Sonata to the motherboard, that is probably what has you confused. The 3 pin connections are meant for smaller fans like CPU fans and graphic card fans. 3-pin connectors carry enough power to run the 120mm fan, but in the Antec Sonata they give you power connections on the power supply dedicated for case fans only, so make sure to use them.

If you have any more questions or I am still unclear, let me know.

You dont have to remove the whole front to get to the driverails.
You can easily remove them with your fingers in the sides of the front covers for each drive.

/Allan

MWAHAHAH I didn't read the manual and found out after I had destroyed the little cardboard box containing screws... that the hard drive mounts can be removed... mwahahaha (again) at least I got to destroy something!... I love my stanley knife x.x... no not literally... ouch...

Note to self: Read manuals...

I got this case about 20 mins ago, it looks fantastic, especially if going in the front room as a Media PC.

I also destroyed the cardboard box trying to yank it through the drive rails, i got it out in the end with much sweating then read that the rails slide out! DOH! oh well, its all fun.

Right back to putting the heat sink on the cpu.

PS. The case is very good quality for the money. so far 5/5 from me.

I have the case from about 5 days. It took me a while to figure out where to install the second 120 mm fan. I was under the impression it has to go somewhere in the front of the box, not inside on the left side of the slide in HDD bays.

The box is pretty good and very quiet. Since all positive points are pointed out by reviewers and specifications, I will only put here the NEGATIVE ones. Still it is an awesome box.

- Has 2 SATA power connectors and 4 drive bays
- Has only 3 power "lines" for normal (non SATA) power. They are 2, 2 and 3. Yet it has 4 drive bays on the boottom, could have been cleaner to have a separate line of power that is fixed arround the box, and has 4 power connectors.
- HDD bays fan (second 120 mm fan) is sucking air from the drives, not blowing thus less efficient.
- Second fan is running as fast as 1st fan, yet the box has 2 exhaust fans (chasis and power supply).
- 120 mm fans controlled by power supply (nice!) but you can't adjust the threshold, i.e. some people (lime me) would like the fans to run faster at cooler temperatures i.e. rpm to temperature ratio not adjustable.
- When the box is sideways for installing components, front door opens upwards - inconvenient.
- HDD light not very visible when looking from TOP.
- No cable provided for external power supply connector.

Other then these above I am quite happy with my purchase, and just love my new case, especially slide in HDD drive bays as I have 4 drives.

Kutrovsky

You can't actually fit two 3.5" drives in the drive bay! It just looks like you can. That pisses me off, you know?

Plus the motherboard I'm using has 6 SATA drive sockets but because of the above you can only fit five drives inside! GRR.