Antec Sonata Series Solo II Mid Tower Case Review

Final Thoughts of the Antec Sonata Series Solo II

Overall the Solo II from Antec’s Sonata line is a very nice case. Its steel construction is very strong, and like steel Antec cases of old should be up for MANY years of service. The Solo II can hold the biggest of components with ease or modifications. Antec says that the Solo II will carry an MSRP of $129.99 and have a 3 year warranty, so that is not too out of line for a quality midtower.

For a midtower it had to give up something to get the space for the video card, so drive count took a hit. For some this is a down side; for me, not really. I have found as my family has grown and my PC is not the only one in the house I use a central server for file storage, and only really need enough local storage for games. So only having 3 drive bays (well, 2 if you use the suspension mounts) is not all that bad if used for storage and the lower 2.5″ mounting location for an SSD boot drive.

The drawback to the top mount power supply is trying finding a power supply now with short enough main power cables. Most if not all high-end PSU’s will have long cables because the new trend is bottom mount power supplies. With a little time one could shorten the cables themselves, but killing the warranty in the process. Either long or short cables, a modular unit is a must to keep what little space there is tidy. No, there is no window, but a tidy and neat case has better air flow than one that has everything shoved in it every which way.

At the $130 mark the Solo two has some competition with other mid-towers, most though at aimed at gamer styling. Narrow it down to similar styles then you get a short list, even shorter when you throw in the ability to handle those full length video cards. At the top of my short list is the Corsair Graphite 600T and the Lian Li Lancool PC-K9B. Both of those cases are just a little larger foot print-wise than the Antec Solo II, but the Lian Li is lighter as it is aluminum. If it were going to be sitting on my desk I would want as small of a foot print as I can get. Hauling it around all the time, light as I can get.

Antec says the Sonata Series Solo II will carry an MSRP of $129.99 and 3 year warranty. For that price you get a very solidly built steel case that could handle the stresses of being hauled around to LAN parties, but looks classy enough it could be set on the desk at work or in the living room and not be an eye sore that is lit up like a landing strip.

Legit Bottom Line: If you’re looking for a new quiet case that you can fit some large parts in then the Antec Sonata Series Solo II is worth a look at with an MSRP of $129.99 and 3 year warranty.