Short answer
Both are desktop amplifiers, $350 against $499.
On raw power they are level: each reaches 100 dB on 566 of the 567 non-electrostatic models here.
| Specification | Lake People G103-S Mk II | Schiit Valhalla 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 1.0 W | 750 mW |
| Power into 150Ω | 804 mW | 286 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | 580 mW | 250 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 340 mW | 125 mW |
| Output impedance | 0.1 Ω | 25 Ω |
| Output noise | 6.15 µV | 6.32 µV |
| Price | $350 | $499 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 566 | 566 |
| Load | Lake People G103-S Mk II | Schiit Valhalla 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 32 Ω | Published | Published |
| 150 Ω | Derived | Derived |
| 300 Ω | Published | Published |
| 600 Ω | Published | Derived |
Both makers publish a power rating. Lake People G103-S Mk II publishes at 32 Ω, at 300 Ω and at 600 Ω; Schiit Valhalla 3 at 32 Ω and at 300 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.
So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 600 Ω only the Lake People G103-S Mk II figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.
On power they are interchangeable across this whole database: there is no headphone here that one reaches 100 dB on and the other does not.
535 headphones are left alone by the Lake People G103-S Mk II under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the Schiit Valhalla 3 (64 Audio Aspire 1, 64 Audio Fourte, 64 Audio Nio, 532 more).
4 headphones stay below the audible-hiss threshold on the Lake People G103-S Mk II but cross it on the Schiit Valhalla 3 (Audeze Euclid, Moondrop ILLUSTRIOUS, Tangzu Tianpeng, 1 more).
566 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both.
Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.
The widest gap on the list is the Audeze LCD-2 Classic: Lake People G103-S Mk II has +32 dB of headroom there against +27 dB. 4 dB is about 2.7 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.
Hiss below about 20 dB SPL is inaudible in a quiet room.
| Headphone | Impedance | Needs | Lake People G103-S Mk II headroom | Schiit Valhalla 3 headroom | Lake People G103-S Mk II hiss | Schiit Valhalla 3 hiss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shure SE846 | 9 Ω | 0.04 mW | +38 dB | +37 dB damping | 30 dB | 30 dB |
| Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 | 9 Ω | 4.0 mW | +18 dB | +17 dB damping | 10 dB | 10 dB |
| Audeze LCD-2 Classic | 70 Ω | 0.79 mW | +32 dB | +27 dB damping | 8 dB | 9 dB |
| Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω) | 250 Ω | 0.63 mW | +30 dB | +26 dB | 4 dB | 4 dB |
| HiFiMAN HE400se | 25 Ω | 7.9 mW | +20 dB | +19 dB damping | 3 dB | 3 dB |
| Audio-Technica ATH-R70X | 470 Ω | 1.6 mW | +24 dB | +20 dB | -3 dB | -3 dB |
| Sennheiser HD 600 | 300 Ω | 6.6 mW | +19 dB | +16 dB | -7 dB | -7 dB |
| HiFiMAN Susvara | 60 Ω | 50 mW | +14 dB | +10 dB damping | -9 dB | -9 dB |
The Schiit Valhalla 3 costs $149 more than the Lake People G103-S Mk II, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the Schiit Valhalla 3 handles and the Lake People G103-S Mk II does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper Lake People G103-S Mk II leaves 535 models alone under the one-eighth rule and keeps 4 below the audible-hiss threshold that the Schiit Valhalla 3 does not.
Only published figures count here; blank axes are counted separately.
Each in full: Lake People G103-S Mk II and Schiit Valhalla 3.