Dynaudio Opus One Soundbar: Kinetic Fins Meet 24 Drivers

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Most soundbars are inert black slabs that sit under your TV and do their job quietly. Dynaudio’s Opus One is not one of those. It has wooden panels that physically move when you power it on — what the company calls “kinetic fins” — unfurling like a high-end instrument opening for a performance. That alone is worth paying attention to, because audio gear with moving parts is rare, and it signals something bigger than a gimmick: a willingness to treat a soundbar as a piece of furniture, not just an appliance.

If you’ve ever wondered whether a soundbar can be genuinely exciting again, this is your two-minute read.

What makes the Opus One different

Three things set this bar apart from the wall of identikit options at your local electronics store.

Kinetic fins

The wooden fins on the Opus One’s front face open and close mechanically. When the bar is off, the fins lie flat and the unit looks like a sleek, minimalist console accent. Power it on and the fins sweep outward, revealing the driver array beneath. It is theatrical without being tacky — think of it as the audio equivalent of a convertible’s retractable hardtop. The fins also serve a practical purpose: they protect the drivers from dust and curious fingers when the system is idle.

A 24-driver array

Twenty-four individual drivers packed into a single enclosure is a serious number. Most mid-range soundbars use somewhere between three and seven drivers. Flagship models from the big brands might push into the low teens. Twenty-four means Dynaudio is dedicating specific transducers to height channels, side-firing beams, and centre dialogue — all managed by internal DSP that decides which driver does what in real time. According to TechRadar, the result is a wall of sound that fills a room far more convincingly than a typical single-bar setup.

Built for very large televisions

This is not a bar you pair with a 55-inch screen. The Opus One is designed for the 75-inch-plus crowd — the people who have already invested in a massive panel and realise that built-in TV speakers are physically incapable of matching the picture. Width, depth, and acoustic output all scale with the assumption that you are sitting three or more metres away from a genuinely big screen.

Why driver count is not the whole story

Here is something most spec sheets will not tell you: more drivers does not automatically mean better sound. What matters is how those drivers are deployed and processed.

Soundbars create a sense of width and height through two main techniques. Beamforming uses side-firing drivers to bounce sound off your walls, tricking your ears into hearing audio from positions where no physical speaker exists. Up-firing drivers do the same thing vertically, bouncing sound off the ceiling to simulate overhead channels for Dolby Atmos or DTS:X.

The DSP behind all of this is the real hero. A well-tuned seven-driver bar with excellent processing can outperform a poorly calibrated 15-driver system. The Opus One’s advantage is not just raw driver count — it is that Dynaudio, a company with decades of loudspeaker engineering, is applying its own DSP philosophy to decide how each of those 24 units behaves. If the processing is good, the driver count becomes a genuine asset. If it is not, you have just paid for a lot of expensive paperweights.

Who a flagship soundbar is actually for

Let me be direct: the Opus One is not for everyone, and that is fine.

The right buyer

You are the target audience if you have a television of 75 inches or larger, a living room that is at least four metres deep, and you sit far enough back that separate speakers around the room would be impractical or aesthetically unwelcome. You want immersive home-theater sound without running cables to five different locations. You also care enough about industrial design that a soundbar doubling as a conversation piece matters to you.

When separates make more sense

If your room is large enough to accommodate floor-standing speakers, a dedicated centre channel, and surround speakers — and you are willing to run the wiring — a traditional separates system will almost always outperform even the best soundbar. Physics is physics: physically separated speakers placed around the room create a more convincing soundstage than any single enclosure can, no matter how many drivers it packs. The Opus One is for people who want something close to that experience without the logistical headache.

Smarter ways to spend less

Not ready for luxury-tier pricing? Here is what I would do instead.

Mid-range bar plus a subwoofer. The single biggest upgrade to any soundbar is adding a dedicated sub. Most bars in the mid-range segment — think popular brands around the three-to-five-hundred-dollar mark — sound thin on their own because their small cabinets cannot move enough air for convincing bass. Pair one with a good sub and you close a huge gap for a fraction of the price.

Room placement matters more than you think. Before you buy anything, experiment with where you sit. Moving your couch even half a metre closer to or further from the bar can change how beamforming and virtual surround hit your ears. The sweet spot is real, and it is free to find.

Consider your whole audio life. If you are spending most of your listening time on music rather than movies, a quality pair of headphones might give you more enjoyment per dollar. Our Nothing Ear 3a review covers an option that punches well above its price. And if you are a late-night listener who does not want to wake the house, the sleepbuds vs speaker pillow comparison is worth a look before committing to a soundbar at all.

Pros and cons

Pros

Cons

My verdict

I love that the Opus One exists. In a market where most soundbars are designed to disappear, Dynaudio has built one that wants to be noticed — and not just for the sake of it. The kinetic fins are a genuinely thoughtful touch that bridges the gap between audio equipment and furniture, and the 24-driver array tells me this company is serious about acoustic performance, not just aesthetics.

Would I buy one? If I had an 85-inch TV in a living room where running speaker wire was a non-starter, absolutely. For most people, though, the smarter move is a solid mid-range bar with a subwoofer, careful placement, and maybe a great pair of headphones for the hours you are not watching movies. That combo will get you 80 percent of the experience for a fraction of the cost. And if you are also in the market for a display upgrade, check out our coverage of the LG UltraGear tandem OLED 280Hz monitor deal — pairing a great screen with great sound is where the real magic happens.

The Opus One is a statement piece, and the audio world needs more of those. Just know what you are signing up for.

Sources

Source: TechRadar