In case a new television has made its way to your den, chances are you are looking for a soundbar. Irrespective of the moolah spent on TVs, the in-built speakers are pint-sized, something that is especially felt while watching old films. That’s one of the reasons why soundbars have been gobbling up sales from other speaker categories in the last few years. Making the segment lucrative is the fact that the Indian television market is mainly an upgrade market with many switching from CRT options to smart TVs.

Second, most television buyers seem to care more about screen size, picture quality and price, which means manufacturers who have been trying to push prices down without sacrificing too much in the picture quality department, naturally look to speakers as a corner to cut. Earlier, TVs were big and had lots of space to allow proper speaker drivers. Further, the speakers actually faced the viewer. The design language of modern TVs is about having the slimmest of bezels, so speakers have to fire downward or backwards towards the wall and then bounce back at the viewer, which distorts the sound.

Having spent a bomb on a television set, most people tend to go for a sensibly-priced soundbar. Recently we had a chance to review Creative Stage V2, which is a 2.1 soundbar and sub-woofer that comes with Clear Dialog and surround by Sound Blaster for TV and desktop monitor.

There are a few companies that have earned solid reputation in the computer and gaming space for years by coming up with unique sound solutions. Creative is one of them. Back in the day, I have built PCs and Creative has come to the rescue on several occasions. That was way, way back. Yet, something that hasn’t changed after all these years is quality. Not that the soundbar has got everything correct, but it certainly delivers what it promises in way of sound.

Easy to set up

The set involves a soundbar and subwoofer, which connects via wire to the main unit and the unit itself has a cable to power up. In way of connectivity, there is USB, TV (ARC), Aux and optical. On the side are a few basic physical buttons to power up, connect via Bluetooth and volume up/down. The soundbar is narrow enough to find space below the TV or you can mount it, which is not an issue.

There are two quibbles with the design. First, the piano-black finish on the top and bottom is a magnet for fingerprints and dust but from the front, the mesh is just perfect as long as you clean it with a handheld vacuum cleaner from time to time. Second, once powered up, the small LED on front of the speaker stays on, which may bother some people at night.

The subwoofer is well built and looks quite good when kept near the TV set. It’s narrow and tall and powerful. Overall, anybody can set this up.

Sonic joy

The most important part is, of course, sound. We tried a lot of movies with complicated soundtracks. Let’s get going.

A movie close to my heart is Black Swan because of the soundtrack, especially when the movie is taking a triumphant yet tragic path. The visuals take on a nightmarish quality and Night of Terror captures that sense of urgency and confusion. By the time the magnum opus of the soundtrack is reached — Perfection — it becomes a visual as well as a sonic joy. Switching on the soundbar, each and every instrument gets captured. It is powerful and at this price point it reaches a very pleasing volume that doesn’t distort at the very top end.

We switched over to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which obviously has another memorable soundtrack. Ennio Morricone always offered a unique sound. Yes, it was straightforward until all hell broke loose, complete with a series of sound effects that were sharply delivered. The soundbar managed to deliver this and much more.

A more challenging situation was when we moved to older films, something like the Cary Grant-Sophia Loren starrer Houseboat or Rock Hudson-Doris Day starrer Send Me No Flowers. I have old DVDs of these films and the dialogues are best understood with the subtitle on. The problem lies with the TV and the way it fires sound. Somehow most of the dialogues get lost. This gets sorted out with the Creative speaker. Suddenly I could enjoy the movies even without the subtitles. It felt the same way while watching Pyaasa.

Besides movies, you can also use the Bluetooth 5.0 connection to stream from your mobile phone. It’s a full, satisfying sound. Listening to Kacey Musgraves or Caitlyn Smith, one gets a fun sound signature. To get the best out of the soundbar, use it in slightly larger rooms and not a very small room. That way you will get to enjoy something more nuanced, like classical music.

Like we said, this can also be a good way to enjoy gaming. Just connect it with your computer or even gaming consoles like PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Be it Asphalt 9: Legends or God of War, everything will sound realistic.

There is also a remote control that comes with the set. In way of functions, I am pretty happy. In way of finish and design, it could have been better. The plastic finish doesn’t really look good. All the functions you would need are there, including ways to amp up or dampen the treble or bass. While watching films, I liked the sound signature with the surround option on.

Is it for you?

There are more expensive soundbars that offer better sound but at the given price point, Creative Stage V2 rocks and rules. Explosions pop, dialogues get clearer and you will end up enjoying a lot of details that you’ve never picked up on before. The Creative Stage V2 soundbar certainly convinces its customers to care about audio.

At a glance

Device: Creative Stage V2

Main unit: 2 x 20W, subwoofer: 1 x 40W, total system power: up to 80W RMS, peak power 160W

Frequency response: 55–20,000Hz

System configuration: 2.1

Bluetooth version: 5.0

Supported codecs: SBC

Connector type: Bluetooth, AUX-in, Optical-in, USB-C

Price: Rs 9,999 (Amazon and Flipkart)

Creative Stage V2 soundbar flies because

⦿ It’s well-priced

⦿ You can fill the room with rich audio and deep impactful bass with the soundbar and its dedicated subwoofer

⦿ It’s armed with Sound Blaster’s audio technologies

⦿ It’s well-built

The soundbar could have flown higher had…

⦿ The remote control looked more sturdy and came with batteries

⦿ The piano-black finish on the top and bottom were avoided