This small, cheap soundbar has custom modes so you can sit right next to it, or use it to fill a room from your TV

Lifestyle shot of the Creative Stage Pro soundbar on a wooden unit below a TV. The carpet and walls are a kind of oatmeal color.

• The Creative Stage Pro is a compact but powerful 2.1 soundbar
• Switchable near-field or far-field listening modes
• Launching "around" August 19 for £139 / $169

As much as I love a giant neighbor-frightening sound system, some of the best soundbars are too big, too powerful and too expensive for more modest spaces and set-ups or for using with a desktop PC. Creative's new Stage Pro is a compact soundbar designed for those more modest spaces and budgets, and it promises room-filling sound from a relatively small footprint.