Antec Sonata

One of the first things that I immediately noticed about the Sonata was its quality high gloss shine. The paint job on the enclosure is so nice you can see reflections off the floor. For an enclosure that can support up to 9 drives, the Sonata was incredibly light coming out of the box. The overall construction of the Sonata felt very solid.

A quick look at the front of the enclosure reveals a lockable front door. The door allows you to cover up any drives (that tend to become a bit of an eye sore when they don't match the color of the enclosure) along with the enclosure's power and reset buttons. The door is also removable for those who prefers the convenience have not having the door in the way of accessing installed drives. Opening the front door reveals (3) 5.25" bays and removable drive cage for (2) 3.5" drives. Each of the 5.25" drive bay covers also function as storage of the bay's corresponding drive mounts.

The bezel also has a front mounted USB/Firewire/iLink/audio port bay. This bay can be conveniently hidden by a stylish chrome finished cover. This chrome cover is also enhanced by two blue LED lights on its sides. The bottom portion of the bezel also gives access to the Sonata's washable air filter. Dust build up equates to higher overall operating temperatures which shortens the life of your components. Having a filter available near the intake of the enclosure goes a long way in protecting your system from dust.

A quick look at the back of the enclosure reveals available support for 7 motherboard card slots and a 120mm fan. A 120mm fan has already been preinstalled inside the Sonata. One interesting thing about the fan is the way it is mounted. Instead of traditional brackets or screws, the Sonata utilizes screwlike pieces of soft stretchy rubber to help minimize vibration noise from the fan.

Let's take a look at what's inside.