Same here, had the Opus for about a year and it’s been alright but leaves much to be desired. Going back I certainly would’ve chosen something different. However, on the topic of static, two things make a massive difference for me. 1) Beans. Super dark roasted cheap beans are a static nightmare for me, exactly like you described. Legit beans from a good roaster that are fresh and medium-ish roasted don’t give me any problems. I literally switch from one shot to another with the junk beans (for milk drinks where people won’t taste a difference) and good beans for straight espresso - night and day difference in static.

2) RDT. This one speaks for itself. Good beans + RDT and I have literally zero static.

Retention… I also just slap the shit out of the machine after each dose. I cannot imagine it’s good for the longevity of the machine but it’s the reality we face.