AKG K371 vs Dan Clark Audio Stealth: which needs more amplifier?

The AKG K371 is 32Ω at 99.1 dB/mW; the Dan Clark Audio Stealth is 23Ω at 90.0 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 Dan Clark Audio Stealth needs 9.1 dB more than the AKG K371 to reach the same loudness — 10 mW against 1.2 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationAKG K371Dan Clark Audio Stealth
Impedance32 Ω23 Ω
Sensitivity99.1 dB/mW90.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)114.0 dB/V106.4 dB/V
Power for 100 dB1.2 mW10 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.20 V0.48 V
Current for 100 dB6.2 mA20.9 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.00 Ω2.88 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280279

Where the two part company

1 of the 280 sources has the power for the AKG K371 but not for the Dan Clark Audio Stealth — Steinberg UR22C.

279 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: AKG K371 and Dan Clark Audio Stealth. Every figure on this page comes from what AKG and Dan Clark Audio published, or is derived from it — what AKG publishes and what Dan Clark Audio publishes, both counted.