AEON RT vs Ether C Flow 1.1: which needs more amplifier?

The Dan Clark Audio AEON RT is 13Ω at 90.0 dB/mW; the Dan Clark Audio Ether C Flow 1.1 is 23Ω 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 AEON RT needs 4.0 dB more than the Ether C Flow 1.1 to reach the same loudness — 10 mW against 4.0 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationAEON RTEther C Flow 1.1
Impedance13 Ω23 Ω
Sensitivity90.0 dB/mW94.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)108.9 dB/V110.4 dB/V
Power for 100 dB10 mW4.0 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.36 V0.30 V
Current for 100 dB27.7 mA13.2 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
1.62 Ω2.88 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
272280

One caution before reading the rows. For Dan Clark Audio Ether C Flow 1.1 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

8 of the 280 sources have the power for the Ether C Flow 1.1 but not for the AEON RT — Apple USB-C dongle (EU), Zoom AMS-22, Audient EVO 4, 5 more.

5 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Ether C Flow 1.1 under the one-eighth rule but not for the AEON RT (FiiO KA13, Schiit Vali 2+, Astell&Kern HC3, 2 more).

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

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The AEON RT is more demanding than 80% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Ether C Flow 1.1 than 75%.

dB SPLAEON RT powerAEON RT voltageEther C Flow 1.1 powerEther C Flow 1.1 voltage
800.10 mW36 mV0.04 mW30 mV
850.32 mW64 mV0.13 mW54 mV
901.0 mW0.11 V0.40 mW96 mV
953.2 mW0.20 V1.3 mW0.17 V
10010 mW0.36 V4.0 mW0.30 V
10532 mW0.64 V13 mW0.54 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, AEON RTHeadroom, Ether C Flow 1.1Output impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$200.9 dB7.3 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2913.0 dB17.3 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR11$365.6 dB9.5 dB0.5 Ω8.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 272 reach 100 dB on both. 69 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 69 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 0.9 dB of headroom on the AEON RT and 7.3 dB on the Ether C Flow 1.1, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 1.62 Ω and 2.88 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 27 dB and 25 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: Dan Clark Audio AEON RT and Dan Clark Audio Ether C Flow 1.1. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Dan Clark Audio never published — what that maker publishes, counted.

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