Chimera vs Solaris 2020: which needs more amplifier?

The Campfire Audio Chimera is 5.5Ω at 108.1 dB/mW; the Campfire Audio Solaris 2020 is 15Ω at 94.0 dB (no figure from the maker at all). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The Solaris 2020 needs 14.1 dB more than the Chimera to reach the same loudness — 4.0 mW against 0.15 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationChimeraSolaris 2020
Impedance5.5 Ω15 Ω
Sensitivity108.1 dB/mW94.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)130.7 dB/V112.2 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.15 mW4.0 mW
Voltage for 100 dB29 mV0.24 V
Current for 100 dB5.3 mA16.3 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
0.69 Ω1.88 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

One caution before reading the rows. For Campfire Audio Solaris 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

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.

51 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Solaris 2020 under the one-eighth rule but not for the Chimera (FiiO SnowSky Tiny B, FiiO KA11, FiiO KA13, 48 more).

28 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Solaris 2020 but cross it with the Chimera (Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, FiiO BTR11, Fosi Audio SK02, 25 more).

280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The Solaris 2020 is more demanding than 66% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Chimera than 3%.

dB SPLChimera powerChimera voltageSolaris 2020 powerSolaris 2020 voltage
801.5 µW3 mV0.04 mW24 mV
854.9 µW5 mV0.13 mW43 mV
900.02 mW9 mV0.40 mW77 mV
950.05 mW16 mV1.3 mW0.14 V
1000.15 mW29 mV4.0 mW0.24 V
1050.49 mW52 mV13 mW0.43 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, ChimeraHeadroom, Solaris 2020Output impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2015.2 dB5.5 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13$5924.3 dB14.5 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV
iBasso DC03 Pro$6920.4 dB10.6 dB0.12 Ω0.9 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 25 of them also publish an output impedance low enough for both under the one-eighth rule and a noise figure that stays below the audible-hiss threshold with both.

The cheapest of the 25 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 15.2 dB of headroom on the Chimera and 5.5 dB on the Solaris 2020, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 0.69 Ω and 1.88 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 5 dB and 23 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.

Try any other source.

Both pages in full

Both have a page of their own. In full: Campfire Audio Chimera and Campfire Audio Solaris 2020. 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.

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