Andromeda 10 vs Ara: which needs more amplifier?

The Campfire Audio Andromeda 10 is 8.5Ω at 111.6 dB/mW; the Campfire Audio Ara is 8Ω at 94.0 dB (no figure from the maker at all). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The Ara needs 17.6 dB more than the Andromeda 10 to reach the same loudness — 4.0 mW against 0.07 mW.

Side by side

The numbers that decide it

Specification	Andromeda 10	Ara
Impedance	8.5 Ω	8 Ω
Sensitivity	111.6 dB/mW	94.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)	132.3 dB/V	115.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB	0.07 mW	4.0 mW
Voltage for 100 dB	24 mV	0.18 V
Current for 100 dB	2.9 mA	22.3 mA
Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)	1.06 Ω	1.00 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280	280	278

One caution before reading the rows. For Campfire Audio Ara the maker publishes no sensitivity figure at all. The number in the table was collected when this database was first built and has never been traced to a manufacturer document, so treat every row below it as an estimate rather than a specification.

What separates them

Where the two part company

2 of the 280 sources have the power for the Andromeda 10 but not for the Ara — Apple USB-C dongle (EU), Steinberg UR22C.

37 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Ara but cross it with the Andromeda 10 (Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, FiiO BTR11, FiiO KA13, 34 more).

278 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.

At the level you actually listen at

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The Ara is more demanding than 54% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Andromeda 10 than 2%.

dB SPL	Andromeda 10 power	Andromeda 10 voltage	Ara power	Ara voltage
80	0.7 µW	2 mV	0.04 mW	18 mV
85	2.2 µW	4 mV	0.13 mW	32 mV
90	6.9 µW	8 mV	0.40 mW	56 mV
95	0.02 mW	14 mV	1.3 mW	0.10 V
100	0.07 mW	24 mV	4.0 mW	0.18 V
105	0.22 mW	43 mV	13 mW	0.32 V

What drives both

The cheapest source that satisfies both

Source	Price	Headroom, Andromeda 10	Headroom, Ara	Output impedance	Noise
JadeAudio JA11	$20	20.6 dB	2.8 dB	0.5 Ω	1.7 µV
FiiO KA11	$29	32.7 dB	14.9 dB	0.7 Ω	1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13	$59	29.6 dB	11.8 dB	0.6 Ω	1.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 278 reach 100 dB on both. 35 of them also publish an output impedance low enough for both under the one-eighth rule and a noise figure that stays below the audible-hiss threshold with both.

The cheapest of the 35 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 20.6 dB of headroom on the Andromeda 10 and 2.8 dB on the Ara, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 1.06 Ω and 1.00 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 3 dB and 20 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.

Try any other source.

Both pages in full

Both have a page of their own. In full: Campfire Audio Andromeda 10 and Campfire Audio Ara. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Campfire Audio never published — what that maker publishes, counted.