Andromeda 2020 vs Clara: which needs more amplifier?

The Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 is 9Ω at 94.0 dB (no figure from the maker at all); the Campfire Audio Clara is 13.3Ω at 115.3 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 Andromeda 2020 needs 21.3 dB more than the Clara to reach the same loudness — 4.0 mW against 0.03 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationAndromeda 2020Clara
Impedance9 Ω13.3 Ω
Sensitivity94.0 dB115.3 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)114.5 dB/V134.1 dB/V
Power for 100 dB4.0 mW0.03 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.19 V20 mV
Current for 100 dB21.0 mA1.5 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
1.12 Ω1.66 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
279280

One caution before reading the rows. For Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 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.

Where the two part company

1 of the 280 sources has the power for the Clara but not for the Andromeda 2020 — Steinberg UR22C.

6 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Clara under the one-eighth rule but not for the Andromeda 2020 (FiiO K11, FiiO BTR7, FiiO M11S, 3 more).

39 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Andromeda 2020 but cross it with the Clara (Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, FiiO BTR11, FiiO KA13, 36 more).

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: Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 and Campfire Audio Clara. 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.