Andromeda 2023 vs Holocene: which needs more amplifier?

The Campfire Audio Andromeda 2023 is 6.375Ω at 110.6 dB/mW; the Campfire Audio Holocene is 9Ω at 94.0 dB (no figure from the maker at all). 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 Holocene needs 16.6 dB more than the Andromeda 2023 to reach the same loudness — 4.0 mW against 0.09 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationAndromeda 2023Holocene
Impedance6.375 Ω9 Ω
Sensitivity110.6 dB/mW94.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)132.6 dB/V114.5 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.09 mW4.0 mW
Voltage for 100 dB24 mV0.19 V
Current for 100 dB3.7 mA21.0 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
0.80 Ω1.12 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280279

One caution before reading the rows. For Campfire Audio Holocene 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 Andromeda 2023 but not for the Holocene — Steinberg UR22C.

38 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Holocene under the one-eighth rule but not for the Andromeda 2023 (FiiO SnowSky Tiny B, FiiO KA15, FiiO BTR15, 35 more).

32 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Holocene but cross it with the Andromeda 2023 (Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, FiiO BTR11, FiiO KA13, 29 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 2023 and Campfire Audio Holocene. 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.