Creative Stage SE

I’ve been searching for a small and inexpensive speaker setup for a while, and the options seem to be dreadful £20 setups, or spending over £100 for often bulky setups. For me, this soundbar hits a nice spot in the middle. It fits easily under my monitor, and setup is very easy, either plug in usb, or pair to Bluetooth. Volume is decent, and more importantly the quality is good. I can more than happily listen to a range of music that is all handled well. YouTube videos are also good, with clear dialogue cutting through. All as good as you can expect for £50. There are a lot of different tone and sound options which make a slight difference if you listen closely, but really you can just leave it alone. The volume knob is excellent, and I’m surprised I’ve not seen this style before given how well it works. The supplied remote feels cheap (and didn’t come with batteries), but again, for the price, is acceptable and a nice bonus. Overall would heartily recommend at this size / price point.

Bought this for my desk, sound quality is perfect for music and video.

Having read many reviews for budget soundbarsfor my desktop PC I shortlisted three from Creative. This one, Stage SE, the Stage SE Mini and the Sound Blaster GS3. Both the SE and GS3 were on discount and so near the price of the Mini I decided to ignore that one. After checking customer reviews and comparing specifications the Stage SE is the better speaker but was on sale for less then the GS3 - that made my mind up. And I have no regrets, I would say it's exceeded my expectations as I didn't think such a small speaker would have a decent depth of sound, not tinny at all. It's connected to my PC via the supplied USB cable and I've also used Bluetooth with my phone. Both work fine and easily. It did default to Bluetooth on switching on but you just press the Input button on the remote once and it changes immediately. The remote is great to have and I'm pleasantly surprised the pause and skip track buttons work with Spotify both on the PC and the phone. And in Netflix. Again I wasn't expecting this feature. The sound is great for the price, clearly no booming base but a great range and full sound. So a tick for gaming, watching movies and listening to music although to be honest, and certainly at night, I always use headphones for the absolute best sound. For the £39 I paid, and absolute bargain.

Excellent alternative to built in monitor speakers. Bass is good - overall sounds a little flat at first, but you soon adjust. Great volume and vocal clarity.

It's not shown in the amazon images but there is what appears to be a 'bass reflex' port on the left side of this soundbar. Bass reflex AND a passive radiator? Well it must be some fancy bandpass setup with a second passive radiator hidden inside, I hear you cry! Actually, the reflex port is totally blocked off and is therefore a bizarre inclusion to say the least. It even features a fake mesh grill to presumably obfuscate the fact that there is no actual port or opening of any kind. My best guess is the designer(s) changed their mind during development and switched from bass reflex to a passive radiator alignment. I'm also guessing then, that the tooling had already been made for the endcap with the flared port entrance, so instead of starting again, they simply blocked it off and called it a day. It's either that or they really want you to think this thing has a bass reflex port! Aside from that, the audio quality is alright, if not a little bit overemphasised in the 200 Hz region, which gives the midbass an almost overbearingly 'punchy' quality. This can be tamed with a bit of simple DSP trickery. I recommend the free and open source Equalizer APO program for windows, great tool. There is one more flaw however. Because the large passive radiator in this soundbar is physically unopposed by another equal moving mass (see: the Bose Soundlink Mini or the JBL Xtreme, which have been designed properly with two passive radiators arranged opposite each other) all the vibrations from said passive radiator are transferred directly into the enclosure, and then coupled with whatever surface you place the soundbar on. Not great if your desk has loose articles on it, for example. If there weren't any rubber feet on the bottom, I'm sure the soundbar would be off walking whenever a bass note is played, probably right off the edge of your desk. This is all a great big shame really, as otherwise the design and form factor is solid. It also makes the Creative Stage SE Mini, this speakers smaller and cheaper cousin, look like an even better deal, especially at just £24 with a voucher! Already owning the Mini, I was hoping for the same level of efficient, well polished design and excellent value for money but this simply isn't the case. Hope this helps :)

Brilliant, didnt want traditional 5.1 or7.1 speakers for laptop/pc desk as too bulky and takes up space, brilliant product sits nicely has great bass and treble. Question the need for a remote but nice to have I guess especially as there are no buttons on the unit for anything but power/pair and volume control. Bought some aftermarket risers (laptop risers) to fix to the underside to provide angle to direct to me rather than the back of my keyboard cheap fix.

Im so impressed with it!!! I just wanted something for my Kitchen Mac to play YouTube etc through it... and for less than £50 quied Im blown away... its sounds great... punchy... dont get me wrong.. its not going in my little Studio room... but for sat underneath your monitor on your kitchen table its amazing for so little money.... I have speakers costing £100's and £1000's in my house and for what it needs to do for me its perfect... I highley recommend... Just dont expect too much level.. at its highest volume its awfull and all falls a part but a couple of pegs down... sounds great.

Upgrade from old 2.1 system, lovely sound and remote control is great addition, only minus side is the lack of connections on rear , bluetooth and direct to pc no L/R analogue input. Otherwise great product

magnifica barra de sonido. Se escucha perfectamente tanto voz, como música. Buena relación calidad-precio

Cette superbe colonne de son pour ordinateur est vraiment surprenante.Pour un prix très correct on obtient une qualité sonore excellente. Malgré son petit volume on est surpris des aigus et aussi de la présence de graves que l'on obtient. Je suis très satisfait de cet achat. Le seul petit inconvénient réside en l'absence de traduction française. Pour ce qui est de son branchement je conseillerai d'utiliser le bluetooth ,la qualité est vraiment très bonne, d'autant que son branchement est des plus facile.

Tiene muy buena calidad de audio, se escucha claro y fuerte; es una gran solucion de audio si no tienes espacio para un setup mas propio. La conectividad es por USB y requiere de alimentacion externa para funcionar. Se puede conectar por bluetooth e incluye algunos presets de sonido.

Ho recentemente acquistato la soundbar Creative Stage SE e sono rimasto piacevolmente sorpreso dalla qualità del suono che riesce a offrire. Suono avvolgente e dialoghi cristallini Una delle prime cose che ho notato è la capacità della Stage SE di creare un palcoscenico sonoro ampio e coinvolgente, nonostante le dimensioni compatte. La tecnologia Surround offre un'esperienza audio immersiva, perfetta per guardare film e serie TV. Inoltre, la funzione Clear Dialog è davvero efficace: i dialoghi sono nitidi e chiari, anche nelle scene più movimentate. Versatilità e facilità d'uso La soundbar è estremamente facile da configurare e utilizzare. La connessione tramite USB o Bluetooth è rapida e stabile, e il telecomando permette di regolare il volume e selezionare le diverse modalità audio in modo intuitivo. Apprezzo molto la possibilità di passare facilmente da un dispositivo all'altro, ad esempio dal PC allo smartphone. Design elegante e compatto Il design della Stage SE è minimalista ed elegante, si adatta perfettamente a qualsiasi tipo di scrivania. Le dimensioni contenute la rendono ideale anche per spazi ristretti. Perfetta per piccoli ambienti Se come me avete una scrivania o un televisore di dimensioni contenute, la Creative Stage SE è la soluzione ideale. Offre un suono di qualità superiore rispetto agli altoparlanti integrati nei dispositivi, senza occupare troppo spazio. In sintesi, i punti di forza della Stage SE sono: Suono potente e coinvolgente Dialoghi chiari e nitidi Versatilità di connessione Design elegante e compatto Facile da utilizzare Perfetta per piccoli ambienti Consiglierei questa soundbar a: Chi cerca un suono di qualità per il proprio PC o TV Chi ha poco spazio sulla scrivania Chi vuole migliorare l'esperienza di visione di film e serie TV Chi cerca un prodotto facile da usare e configurare In conclusione, la Creative Stage SE è un'ottima scelta per chi desidera un sistema audio compatto e performante. Il rapporto qualità-prezzo è davvero interessante e la soddisfazione è garantita.

Lots of strange reviews on this Blaster. The product is purpose built designed for one purpose. A below monitor, monitor. The higher voltage power supply adds headroom and girth where USB power is great if you have a C port delivering rated current power. But that's the problem, the C spec. can be a range where charging power is great but most notebooks are not at that rating. So, the soundbar doesn't distort and clip starved for power. That's a good thing. The lack of an analog input is common across the industry. You get much cleaner sound processing with an internal DAC vs amplifying a pre signal (with noise). The design is slick from the vol knob feel to the remote features and operation. The term sophisticated comes to mind using this thing. The dreaded banner 'item is often returned' is tagged on this unit. I think I know why. Out of the box, it's well, boxy. Two 'race track' oval drivers, a center diaphragm, and a side port that's flared to prevent 'chuffing'. What did you expect from a 16" brick? Seems kinda mid rangey, a tad nasal, basically a $25 squawker! Back in the box she goes! They missed the secret in the instructions. Download the Creative USB Host Driver. Once installed, go into Control Panel - Sound - Creative (tab) - select 'Wide Mode'. This opens up the stage and is very noticeable. Now poke the remote sound expansion button. The two effects combined change the 'box' to an EQ'd sound stage. Well worth the effort and rewarding to hear as definitely more HiFi. I normally don't like 3D Space Sound, but this one is a game changer. The design is for near field monitoring not a juke box for a room. A two inch diaphragm and 3/4 inch port ain't gonna pound you with bass. It is clear and doesn't suck reproducing audio. If you want a more open sound or boomy bass, get a 2.1 speaker pair (with sub). If you want desktop compactness and clear audio for YouTube reviews or instructional videos, here ya go. Don't think it's a party dance machine. For what it does, it does it well. But understand it's not ideal for music listening or bass rich gaming audio. Used as a portable outside could work, but would sound very thin compared to devices made for that use. It's simply to live under a monitor and what the design was all about. Is this better than a $30 USB powered soundbar. Yes, for the bucks it's well engineered, robust, sophisticated, and not junk. Unfortunately, others can have more bass, flashy LEDs and more stars. To me, for my use, those are disposable LED gimmick toys. Point - the SE is not marketed for teens or gamers. It's a tool more than show. Thus, 5 Stars.