Solo vs U12t: which needs more amplifier?

The 64 Audio Solo is 16Ω at 100.0 dB/mW; the 64 Audio U12t is 12.6Ω at 108.0 dB/mW. This page is only about what they ask of an amplifier — not how they sound, which no specification on either sheet can tell you.

The Solo needs 8.0 dB more than the U12t to reach the same loudness — 1.0 mW against 0.16 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationSoloU12t
Impedance16 Ω12.6 Ω
Sensitivity100.0 dB/mW108.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)118.0 dB/V127.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB1.0 mW0.16 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.13 V45 mV
Current for 100 dB7.9 mA3.5 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.00 Ω1.57 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

Where the two part company

Every source in the database that drives one of them drives the other. On power, the choice between these two changes nothing about what amplifier you need.

5 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Solo under the one-eighth rule but not for the U12t (FiiO KA13, Schiit Vali 2+, Astell&Kern HC3, 2 more).

15 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Solo but cross it with the U12t (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Lake People G103-S Mk II, 12 more).

280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both. That count is about power only — the output-impedance and hiss lines above are separate questions, and a source can pass this one and fail those.

Both pages in full

Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: 64 Audio Solo and 64 Audio U12t. Every figure on this page comes from what 64 Audio published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.