Creative
Stage
Creative Stage (2019): 2.1 under-monitor soundbar with wired subwoofer, HDMI ARC, optical, AUX, Bluetooth and USB music playback.
Released 2019
MSRP $79.99
Check price on AmazonShop prices can differ.
- 2.1 speaker setup
- HDMI ARC
Overview
The Creative Stage is a 2019 soundbar from Creative for a TV or a computer monitor. The bar is 550 mm wide, 70 mm high and 78 mm deep and can be wall-mounted with the wall mounting kit in the box. A separate subwoofer is tethered to the bar with a cable of about 2 m.
Creative lists two custom-tuned mid-range drivers in the bar and rates the system at 2 x 20 W RMS for the bar plus 40 W RMS for the subwoofer, with 160 W peak power.
The TV connects over HDMI ARC (Creative labels it "TV (ARC)") or optical. Phones and computers connect over Bluetooth or the 3.5 mm AUX-in, and the USB port plays MP3 music files from a USB mass storage device (up to 32 GB, FAT32 according to Creative).
The included remote control switches between EQ presets for movies, music, concerts and gaming, and adjusts treble and bass. The bar also has touch controls. The box contains the subwoofer, the remote control, a 3.5 mm stereo cable, the wall mounting kit and the manuals.
What the specs mean
- 2.1 speaker setup: two main channels plus a subwoofer channel. The ".1" is the wired subwoofer. There are no centre, surround or height channels, and the system cannot be expanded with extra speakers.
- HDMI ARC: the Audio Return Channel sends the TV's sound to the soundbar over an HDMI cable. The newer eARC is needed for high-bitrate formats such as Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Atmos, which the Stage does not support.
- Audio formats: Creative does not list any surround decoding (no Dolby or DTS) for the Stage.
- No HDMI passthrough: the bar has no HDMI input, so a console or streaming box connects to the TV, and the TV sends the sound back over HDMI ARC.
Which soundbar is right for you?
| CreativeStage (current soundbar)MSRP $79.99Check price on Amazon | CreativeStage V2MSRP $109.99Check price on Amazon | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall value A rough features-for-the-price score, compared with every soundbar listed. Bars gain points for things like Dolby Atmos, Wi-Fi and room tuning, and lose points without them. Dolby Atmos with up-firing speakers earns more than virtual Atmos. Cheaper bars lose fewer points, or none, for missing premium extras (Dolby Atmos, HDMI eARC, up-firing speakers). 100 is the best deal listed. Based on specs only, not on how it sounds. | 26 | 22 |
| Price-band value Like Overall value, but each soundbar is compared only with soundbars in its own price band: up to $300, $300–500, $500–800, $800–1,200 or over $1,200. 100 is the best deal in that band. Based on specs only, not on how it sounds. | 35up to $300 | 30up to $300 |
| Speaker setup | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| Dolby Atmos | No | No |
| Form factor | Bar + sub | Bar + sub |
| Audio support | None | None |
| Available inputs |
|
|
| HDMI inputs | 0 | 0 |
| Streaming support | None | None |
| Virtual assistants | None | None |
| Soundbar dimensions | 550 × 70 × 78 mm | 680 × 78 × 100 mm |
Specifications
Overview
- Overall value
- 26
- Price-band value
- 35up to $300
- Speaker setup
- 2.1
- Dolby Atmos
- No
- Form factor
- Bar + sub
Expandability
- Is extendable
- None
- Has wireless surrounds
- No
- Has wireless subwoofer
- No
Connectivity
- Available inputs
- Aux
- Bluetooth
- HDMI Arc
- Optical
- USB
- Streaming support
- None
- Virtual assistants
- None
- Controllers
- On Device
- Remote Control
- App required
- Not stated
- Same-brand TV features
- Not stated
Audio & video
- Audio support
- None
- Room correction
- No
- Dialogue enhancement
- Not stated
- Night mode
- Not stated
- Passthrough
- No
- HDMI inputs
- 0
Design
- Soundbar dimensions
- 550 × 70 × 78 mm
- Wall mountable
- Yes
- Colors
- None
- What's in the box
- Aux Cable
- Booklets
- Remote control
- Subwoofer
- Wall mount