Antec Solo II Review: Sonata Evolved
by Dustin Sklavos on September 6, 2011 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Antec
- mid-tower
- Sonata
Conclusion: Silence at Any Cost
The takeaway from all of our testing of the Antec Solo II is a pretty simple one: if you prioritize silent running above all else, your choice is fairly clear. For the office environments Antec hopes to cater to, the Solo II is going to be a stellar enclosure with its understated appearance and equally unobtrusive acoustics. It's simply one of the quietest cases we've ever tested, if not the quietest.
Unfortunately, Antec also wants to cater to enthusiasts with the Solo II, and in that respect it's just not competitive. In order for Antec's offering to compete with cases like the much less expensive BitFenix Shinobi or Corsair Carbide 400R, they really needed to at least include one intake fan, and preferrably two. I have trouble fathoming a situation in which building an enthusiast-class machine in the Solo II would be wise. If you want a quiet machine for moderate gaming, then yes, it'd probably be adequate. But just because you can fit an AMD Radeon HD 6990 or two into the Solo II doesn't mean you should.
I also think Antec is having the same problem with the Solo II they had with the Sonata IV: it's priced right out of competition. At $129 it just doesn't make sense. Is BitFenix's Shinobi a little smaller and chintzier-looking? Sure. But it's also a lot less expensive and capable of offering only slightly louder acoustics in exchange for much better thermal performance (which is probably what would happen if you added a 120mm intake to the Solo II). If you're willing to switch to Micro-ATX, then SilverStone's $99 Temjin TJ08-E will blow the pants off of the Solo II. I recently assembled a system for a sound engineer in the TJ08-E; get even an inexpensive tower cooler in that case (Cooler Master's Hyper 212 Plus is my personal favorite) and marvel at how quietly and coolly it actually runs. That's an enclosure that's arguably as attractive as the Solo II, but both smaller and more efficient.
Antec's engineers have a lot of good ideas in the Solo II, but there's still a ways to go. The suspension mounting system should probably just be ditched entirely (personal preference) in favor of four drive sleds, and the case desperately needs intake fans. This is a very quiet case with excellent soundproofing, but adding intakes might actually improve acoustic performance under load as the processor's fan will have much less work to do. I'd also like to see just a little more room behind the motherboard tray. Finally, that pricetag really needs to go down. $129 is unreasonable for what you get when other vendors are willing to give you more for less.
I'm a huge Antec fan—always have been, always will be. The Solo II is definitely a much stronger step forward compared to the middling Sonata IV, and their engineers seem to be on the right track. But the enclosure market is extremely competitive these days, and this design still has a ways to go before it can earn a full-blooded recommendation. If you're interested in silence above all else, it doesn't get much quieter than the Solo II, but I'm not sure it's worth the costs.
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gevorg - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
"I also think Antec is having the same problem with the Solo II they had with the Sonata IV: it's priced right out of competition. At $129 it just doesn't make sense."It makes sense to people who value silent computing. With the right part selection you can have a powerful computer that is also very quiet and that what makes Solo superb even at $200 price point. Comparing Solo to Sonata is like comparing apple to an orange. Key word: part selection. A proper review with anechoic chamber measurements would show a clearer picture.
zero2dash - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
@ $120 the Solo II is (IMHO) grossly overpriced.@ $200 it's highway robbery and anyone who would buy a Solo at that price point deserves to get ripped off.
If I have $200 and it HAS to be spent on an Antec case, I'd get one of the 18x variants. Otherwise, I'd go with another brand name.
knedle - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
I agree, I have Antec NSK2480 for years and I didn't buy it because it was fancy, featured some neat mounting system or whatever else.I bought it because it looked simple, and was made of thick steel, that helps to make my computer quiet.
Nothing else counts for me, and that enclosure is doing great job for me... Oh wait, I had to turn off all the blue LEDs on it, because I hate them. ;)
pvdw - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
Anandtech just doesn't have the facilities for a proper sound related review of hardware. For that SPCR is a better place to go. If quietness is a priority then that's the place to go for reviews. I've found that their case reviews are better than those here. I'm sure they'll review this case and I look forward to hearing their input.BTW, I have the Solo, and it's a great case! It has it's little foibles, but it's significantly cut down on noise in my office.
As far as tool-less design is concerned, remember that a case like the Solo is geared towards noise reduction. It's possible that some of the tool-less designs lead to extra vibration. Or maybe Antec were just cutting corners.The suspension straps are just the best at reducing HDD vibration transfer.
gevorg - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
"Anandtech just doesn't have the facilities for a proper sound related review of hardware. For that SPCR is a better place to go."If Anandtech can't do a proper review, they shouldn't jump to silly conclusions that Solo "at $129 it just doesn't make sense". Not everything is made for overclockers, storage servers and HTPC.
Dustin Sklavos - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
I stand by my conclusions.Just because we can't invest in a custom built anechoic chamber that produces noise level results which border on academic for 90% of end users, I'm somehow not qualified to be doing these?
davegravy - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
Acoustic Engineer here.Results can be significantly skewed by not measuring in an anechoic environment due to room modes. We're talking on the order of several dB.
Your measurements may still be useful for comparison purposes, provided your transducer location and the location of equipment under test is EXACTLY the same for each measurement. In this case, one should not compare Anantech's results with other published results.
Dustin Sklavos - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
That's basically it. I'm confident that my results are comparable within their own ranks.dhanson8652 - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
I think this is a fair review. I have no major problem with this review and I've been a SPCR regular for almost a decade.Suspension was a big deal with traditional 7200 RPM drives back in the day. With SSDs taking over it becomes less and less of an issue. I'd be fine with suspension taken out of the Solo if it dropped the cost and that was reflected in a lower price for the consumer.
The biggest negative you didn't mention is the power button / reset switch is pretty cheaply made. See the picture in page two of this thread http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php... I've seen ham-fisted users bust the power button on a Solo and I've had to fix them so it's not an issue I'll quickly forget.
The one thing that I didn't know before reading this review is that the support bar is removable. There have been some on SPCR that have cut the bar away in the original Solo so having it easily removed/replaced without damaging the cases resale value is a plus.
On the topic of intake the lack of intake fan, considering Yate Loon 120mm fans are only $3 retail (less for someone like Antec to buy in bulk) It'd be very easy to up the included fan count by one if they are going to keep the price that high. As is die hard SPCR types don't use front fans.
leoc - Saturday, December 28, 2013 - link
The really important difference between this review and the SPCR one isn't the precision of the noise recordings. It's that when SPCR found the stock Solo II struggling under load with a mid-range GPU they went ahead, put in a 120mm intake fan and retested. Apparently the Solo II was not only much cooler but quieter with the second fan while under load. Now it would be very fair to slate the expense of what's arguably a $15 hidden extra on the price of a $130 case, but it's faintly absurd not to confirm that the case works well in a two-fan configuration. I understand the desire to review the item as delivered and not to consider esoteric modifications, but throwing in a 120mm Nexus is not exactly drilling holes: it's a ridiculously straightforward and obvious option when self-building a desktop PC for superior noise *or* cooling performance.