Chimera vs Clara: which needs more amplifier?

The Campfire Audio Chimera is 5.5Ω at 108.1 dB/mW; 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 Chimera needs 7.2 dB more than the Clara to reach the same loudness — 0.15 mW against 0.03 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationChimeraClara
Impedance5.5 Ω13.3 Ω
Sensitivity108.1 dB/mW115.3 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)130.7 dB/V134.1 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.15 mW0.03 mW
Voltage for 100 dB29 mV20 mV
Current for 100 dB5.3 mA1.5 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
0.69 Ω1.66 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.

49 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Clara under the one-eighth rule but not for the Chimera (FiiO SnowSky Tiny B, FiiO KA11, JDS Labs Atom+ (2nd gen), 46 more).

14 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Chimera but cross it with the Clara (FiiO KA13, JDS Labs Atom+ (2nd gen), FiiO BTR15, 11 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 Chimera and Campfire Audio Clara. Every figure on this page comes from what Campfire Audio published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.