Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed vs Focal Clear MG: which needs more amplifier?

The Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed is 13Ω at 90.0 dB/mW; the Focal Clear MG is 55Ω at 104.0 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 Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed needs 14.0 dB more than the Focal Clear MG to reach the same loudness — 10 mW against 0.40 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationDan Clark Audio AEON 2 ClosedFocal Clear MG
Impedance13 Ω55 Ω
Sensitivity90.0 dB/mW104.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)108.9 dB/V116.6 dB/V
Power for 100 dB10 mW0.40 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.36 V0.15 V
Current for 100 dB27.7 mA2.7 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
1.62 Ω6.88 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
272280

Where the two part company

8 of the 280 sources have the power for the Focal Clear MG but not for the Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed — Apple USB-C dongle (EU), Zoom AMS-22, Audient EVO 4, 5 more.

6 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Focal Clear MG under the one-eighth rule but not for the Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed (FiiO KA13, Schiit Vali 2+, Astell&Kern HC3, 3 more).

272 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: Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed and Focal Clear MG. Every figure on this page comes from what Dan Clark Audio and Focal published, or is derived from it — what Dan Clark Audio publishes and what Focal publishes, both counted.