Page 4 - Conclusion
Second revisions of products often include refinements in areas, rather than bringing in sweeping changes. In the case of the Stage V2, I think Creative has taken a lot of the feedback it received to give us a compelling soundbar solution. With the Creative Stage V2, we have many of the things that we appreciated in the original one. In its construction and build, the V2 comes in a slightly bigger package while feeling as solid. We also have a similarly generous input selection for a multitude of connections and an updated Bluetooth 5.0 support. Its remote is also improved with a sleeker and cleaner finish. In addition, Creative provided longer and detachable cables for an easier setup experience. Moving to the sound quality, the Stage V2 offers the same fun sound signature with a good amount of bass and bright trebles. It is capable of delivering room filling sound. Creative also provided some improvements in the soundstaging department. Best of all, they fixed the standby detection issue that plagued daily use of the original Stage. Even so, there are still some areas of improvement in the Stage V2, including some cleanup in its output and bringing back some of the missing portions of the midrange. I also would appreciate longer input cables too. Finally, it would have been nice to see AAC and aptX support over Bluetooth. Even so, I am quite happy to see the positive trend in moving to the Stage V2. At a retail price of $110 USD, the Stage V2 is a bit more expensive than the original Stage, but the fixes and improvements they have made, both on a day-to-day and audio quality, make the Creative Stage V2 worth the upgrade.
Creative provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
6/10 means A product with its advantages, but drawbacks should not be ignored before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 6.7/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The Creative Stage V2 is a refined audio setup that offers features and audio performance at a reasonable price.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
