.jpg "NASA’s Quiet Supersonic Jet Takes Flight")
I was expecting SuperWide would make dialog harder to understand, but the Stage Pro has exceptional vocal clarity for both Far and Near, even in Music and Movie modes. I found the extra boost to upper-mids and highs in Vocal mode unnecessary.
As a music speaker, the Stage Pro is geared toward lower volumes and short distances. Not that it can’t get loud—it can get absurdly loud—it just doesn’t sound good at these levels. Screechiness in the highs starts to creep in around 50 percent and by the time you’re at 75 percent it just feels like noise.
You’ll get the best fidelity in regular stereo mode, but even in this mode, I needed to drop the treble adjustment to its lowest setting to compensate for the heavily boosted highs. Music in the two SuperWide modes can be a mixed experience. Midrange definition is partially sacrificed (that dilution of details I described earlier), causing an overemphasis of the highs. On some tracks, like Sabriba Carpenter’s “Taste”, it leaves a gulf between the bass notes and vocals. Some songs fared better. “We Are” by Jon Batiste, with its gospel-infused chorus, actually benefited from both the wide soundstage and vocal-forward tuning, but this was an outlier.
The soundbar sits on rubber feet that angle the unit slightly upward to aim the drivers at your head when seated. For my combination of desk, seat, and body heights, it wasn’t enough. I ended up sticking an AA battery under each foot to get a more aggressive angle. While I don’t recommend this particular hack, I encourage you to find a solution that does the same thing. When sitting close, both Near and Far SuperWide modes will sound much better if you get this angle right.
A Solid Bar
Photograph: Simon Cohen
Using the Stage Pro with a 32-inch TV in our bedroom was a different experience. Unlike the bed, our TV isn’t centered in the room. From my wife’s side, the viewing angle is off by about 10 degrees; from my side, it’s more like 30. We can angle the TV slightly to compensate, but the tiny electric fireplace that serves as a speaker stand doesn’t afford us the same level of flexibility for the soundbar. When using our usual speaker, a Sonos Beam, I don’t notice this at all. With the Stage Pro in Far mode, however, my wife’s side was clearly in the sweet spot, while mine received a less immersive experience. Switching to Near mode increased this gap.
As an experiment, I set up the Stage Pro in our larger TV room. The soundbar surprised me, especially in Far SuperWide mode, with an expansive sound that felt like it was coming from a much bigger speaker. Unfortunately, the subwoofer couldn’t move enough air to match the main bar, and the bass performance was too weak to be enjoyable. Lesson learned: The Stage Pro prefers a smaller stage.
For the price, the Creative Stage Pro is a fun and versatile speaker system that excels at providing immersive, cinematic sound, with excellent dialog clarity. Its SuperWide processing isn’t just hype, but you’ll only appreciate the effect at short distances with the drivers aimed directly at your listening position. Don’t ask it to fill more than a small bedroom or office, and you won’t be disappointed.
