The Campfire Audio Ara is 8Ω at 94.0 dB (no figure from the maker at all); 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 Ara needs 14.1 dB more than the Chimera to reach the same loudness — 4.0 mW against 0.15 mW.
| Specification | Ara | Chimera |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 8 Ω | 5.5 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 94.0 dB | 108.1 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 115.0 dB/V | 130.7 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 4.0 mW | 0.15 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 0.18 V | 29 mV |
| Current for 100 dB | 22.3 mA | 5.3 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 1.00 Ω | 0.69 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 278 | 280 |
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.
2 of the 280 sources have the power for the Chimera but not for the Ara — Apple USB-C dongle (EU), Steinberg UR22C.
42 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Ara under the one-eighth rule but not for the Chimera (FiiO SnowSky Tiny B, FiiO KA11, JDS Labs Atom+ (2nd gen), 39 more).
25 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Ara but cross it with the Chimera (Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, 22 more).
278 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.
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 Ara and Campfire Audio Chimera. 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.