U18s vs U6t: which needs more amplifier?

The 64 Audio U18s is 8Ω at 106.0 dB/mW; the 64 Audio U6t is 9Ω at 98.0 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 U6t needs 8.0 dB more than the U18s to reach the same loudness — 1.6 mW against 0.25 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationU18sU6t
Impedance8 Ω9 Ω
Sensitivity106.0 dB/mW98.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)127.0 dB/V118.5 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.25 mW1.6 mW
Voltage for 100 dB45 mV0.12 V
Current for 100 dB5.6 mA13.3 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
1.00 Ω1.12 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.

1 source is low enough in output impedance for the U6t under the one-eighth rule but not for the U18s (Astell&Kern SR35).

15 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the U6t but cross it with the U18s (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 U18s and 64 Audio U6t. Every figure on this page comes from what 64 Audio published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.