This case is very quiet, and I love it.

Good point: all cables to be hooked to your motherboard
are nicely sleeved.

Good point: hard drives fit in a provided tray with rubber
grommets between the tray and the drive, to prevent
vibrational noise. It works.

Good point: the case fan is secure with rubber grommets,
again to reduce vibrational noise. It works.

Other have nitpicked the lack of a slide out motherboard tray;
I agree, but I don't really care too much. Mounting the
motherboard is a one-time (or at least extremely infrequent)
deal, so the fact that you have to work it in that one time is
not that important to me.

The front USB ports are USB 1.1, which is bad. However, you can
call customer care at Antec and they will send you replacement
USB 2.0 ports free of charge.

I don't understand why the drives are mounted on their sides
(perhaps it was forced due to where they wanted to place the
optional second case fan);
for this reason, the case loses a star. It is a horrible pain
to work the cables behind the drives and get them connected,
especially because I was connecting SCSI drives which require
a nice, long, and thick ribbon cable. I do have one SATA drive
as well, and that one was not too much of a problem. So,
realize that you are in for a struggle if you are trying to
mount SCSI or IDE drives in this case, and I would expect it
to be hard even if you have the round IDE cables. Perhaps if
the case door was removable on both sides, this wouldn't be
so much of an issue.

[And yes, I realize that you can also mount the drives with
the back-sides out; I am going to try this next time I have
an occasion to open the computer, so see if my opinion
changes]

Another nitpick: securing in a PCI or AGP card is more difficult
than it has to be, since there are no notches in the frame where
your screwdriver falls while you are trying to do this. I can't
believe that Antec forgot about this one.

Yet another nitpick: the front USB door is a little cheap
feeling...

I also wish that they hadn't punched "Antec" into the side of
the case; I haven't noticed any noise effect, but wouldn't this
serve to let the CPU fan and vid card fan noise out of the box?

Best case I've used - ever. (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I built a computer for my dad with this case. He asked me to "[b]uild the computer you'd build for yourself if you didn't care about cost."

Now I'm jealous and considering a Sonata case for myself. Amazon's price is excellent, especially since the case includes a quieter version of Antec's stable and reliable 380 watt power supply.

This case runs quiet AND cool with the stock 120mm case fan, stock Intel CPU fan and the P/S fan. (2.4P4/Asus/Lite-On CDRW-DVD/80gig Maxtor)

The big, slow case fan, quiet P/S, vibration-damping rubber fan mounts (VERY nice, extras included for a second fan), rubber grommet HD mounts, heavy steel and front door all combine to hold noise down.

The case is well built, the project went together easily, room for a full-size ATX board, no sharp edges = no cuts. Typical Antec quality. Lots of nuts 'n bolts and hardware for whatever configuration you have in mind. Amazing manual, read it. (See Amazon's link to the manual.) Did I mention it's quiet?

I suggest removing the flimsy front-door during assembly to avoid breaking it, it snaps out easily (consult manual) and you can replace it when you're done (or not). I saw no reason for the glaring headlights, so I left 'em unplugged.

But the reason I'm writing this review is to tell about Antec's superb customer service. I've experienced it before and I decided to give 'em a chance to make me happy again. As before, Antec came through with flying colors.

Not satisfied with the slow front USB ports (they only ran at USB 1.1 speeds) I called Antec's Customer Care and grumbled. (The toll-free number is on the front page of the manual - which Amazon has thoughtfully provided a link to, or at Antec's website, use the Tech Support #, ask for Customer Care.)

With NO waiting I reached Tiffany, a gal with a generous heart and a sense of humor, who immediately offered to send me the fix for free (it brings the front USB ports up to USB 2.0). On a roll, I mentioned the lack of a case-speaker and she said she'd include that as well. Still free. (OK, I'm a geek. The case works fine without the fifty-cent 2-inch speaker, but I like to hear the beeps that tell me the computer POSTed correctly - or not, and there are modern motherboards that actually speak and tell you what the problem is if they can't boot - that feature won't work if there's no case speaker.)

Heart filled with joy, I pushed the envelope and tried for more, but when I commented about the tacky front-port cover (the cheesy chrome-plated plastic gizmo that covers the audio/USB/Firewire ports) Tiffany laughed and suggested I paint it black (which I just might do). BTW, sparingly applied WD-40 makes the cover work a little easier if yours is tight.

Bottom line, if you buy this case you get an excellent case AND great customer service. And a tough-to-beat price at Amazon w/ FREE shipping and NO TAX in most states!

Excellent case - everything 5 stars except the manual (Rating: 4.00)
Review : This is an excellent case which is super quiet as promised. But the instruction manual is pathetic with no readability or pictures. You need to play around the case to figure out how to assemble things. There are no numberings or naming conventions for the screws, insertion mechanisms etc...

But once you get to assemble the case, you would love it. The front flip-cover for the USB ports appears cheap, but works.

If the manual was good, I would have given 5stars for this product.

Quiet Antec Sonata (Rating: 5.00)
Review : At the time I purchased the case, Amazon called it "MID TOWER CASE 380W 9BAY BLACK" and nothing more. This case is in fact the Antec Sonata. It has a low noise 120mm rear fan, front panel usb/firewire/sound, 4 rubber grommet rotated 3.5" drive bays to help minimize hard drive vibrations, a quiet 380W power supply and a front dust filter. It also has 2 blue lights on the front that give the case a cool blue glow in a dark room. My minor gripe about the case is the sides and top of the case are a glossy black that can easily can pick up fingerprints, but luckily the front of the case doesn't have a glossy finish. Overall, it's yet another high quality product from Antec.

Great Case! (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I LOVE this case. I just recently had added a 3rd HD in it an it was a snap. Love how the HD's all have thier own slide in/out trays. Even the CD rom drives have rails to slide in and out. The case is very quiet too. The case i hade before this one sounded like a vaccum cleaner compared to this one. The power supply comes with plenty of plugs for all your HD's and any other components you want to add. The case also looks great with it's piano black finish. There is a dust catching screen in the front of the case too. That is a nice touch.

Downside:
- space inside the case is alittle snug. So you will need to plan out your cabling strategy.
- no motherboard slide out tray. Not a BIG deal for me as i don't plan to swap out my mobo for a while. bit it would have been nice.

Overall:
If i have to build another computer, i would get another one of these. It is great.