Dynaudio Focus speaker range deliver premium streaming Hi-Fi

Danish audio specialist Dynaudio has launched a new range of wireless active speakers that combine the convenience of streaming with audiophile levels of performance.

The Focus line comprises the Focus 10, a two-way stand-mount speaker, the Focus 30, a slim floor-stander and the flagship Focus 50, a three-way floorstander (pictured top).

In addition to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, all three offer coaxial and optical digital audio inputs alongside an analogue line in, to allow system builders to mix and match wireless and local source components.

To take a closer look at the models, Inside CI travelled to Dynaudio’s HQ in Skanderborg, Denmark, where we listened to the top of the range Focus 50, and toured the brand’s impressive manufacturing and production facilities.

The first point to make is just how good the Focus models sound, specifically the Focus 50. A listening session, comprising classic and modern tracks, impressed with their clarity, dynamics and superb imaging.

They also look stylish, with an obvious nod to their Scandi heritage. The models have MDF cabinets (chosen for their audio credentials) and aluminium driver surrounds. They’re available in four luxury finishes: White High Gloss, Black High Gloss, Walnut Wood, and Blonde Wood.

The Focus 50 may come with a €10,000 price tag, but their performance is comparable to conventional two-channels systems that retail for a great deal more. All three Focus models use the same driver technology found in Dynaudio’s professional studio reference monitors.

Integrators will have few problems speccing them for media room use. They support Spotify, Tidal, Apple AirPlay, Google Chromecast, Qplay and UPnP, and with a WISA wireless dongle they can also double as a high quality TV audio system.

Significantly, Dynaudio makes all its drivers in house, hence the brand’s signature sound, and the company has top tier production, design and manufacturing facilities.

When it comes to design, concepts are taken from a cardboard mock-up through to foam rendering, milled on a CNC machine, and honed in a Virtual Reality enviroment.

Final designs then head to Jupiter, a state of the art test and measurement facility onsite. A cavernous 13 x 13 x 13m space is in the heart of the main Dynaudio building, Jupiter features a robotic arm able to lift loudspeakers into the air where their performance can be assessed. A rig of microphones objectively measures the performance of every speaker, before it’s moved on for subjective listening tests.

“What we're doing here in terms of acoustic performance is probably about 30 per cent of what we do in terms of making the loudspeaker sound the way they sound,” says Stephen Entwistle, Chief Engineer. “It's quite technical, quite scientific.”

The Jupiter rig can measure a loudspeaker from 12Hz to 96kHz, we’re told.

“We try to be as objective in our subjective assessment as possible,” adds Entwistle. “When you sit down in front of a stereo loudspeaker system, you get a projected sound field and that's a complete illusion, our senses are tricked into localising things. So the only way you can assess (performance) is by sitting and listening. There is no easy objective measurement that can tell you how a loudspeaker will localise sound sources. That's why we put a lot of effort in here to get the objective things right - but that’s why we also spend a lot of time in the listening room.”

Entwistle says that his team is now looking to build a wall, for the brand’s growing CI range of in-wall speakers, that can also be hoisted and measured by the Jupiter system. “That would be quite impressive, to see a 4x4m wall in the air!” he smiles.

The Dynaudio Focus 10 sells for £4,399 (€5,000 / $5,500 ), a pair, with the Focus 30 priced at £6,499 (€7,500 / $8,250) and the Focus 50 £8,699 (€10,000 / $11,000 ). They’re available now.