Andromeda 10 vs Chimera: which needs more amplifier?

The Campfire Audio Andromeda 10 is 8.5Ω at 111.6 dB/mW; the Campfire Audio Chimera is 5.5Ω at 108.1 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 Chimera needs 3.5 dB more than the Andromeda 10 to reach the same loudness — 0.15 mW against 0.07 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationAndromeda 10Chimera
Impedance8.5 Ω5.5 Ω
Sensitivity111.6 dB/mW108.1 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)132.3 dB/V130.7 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.07 mW0.15 mW
Voltage for 100 dB24 mV29 mV
Current for 100 dB2.9 mA5.3 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
1.06 Ω0.69 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.

42 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Andromeda 10 under the one-eighth rule but not for the Chimera (FiiO SnowSky Tiny B, FiiO KA11, JDS Labs Atom+ (2nd gen), 39 more).

7 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Chimera but cross it with the Andromeda 10 (FiiO KA13, FiiO K11, Fosi Audio K7, 4 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: Campfire Audio Andromeda 10 and Campfire Audio Chimera. Every figure on this page comes from what Campfire Audio published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.