Dan Clark Audio Expanse vs Grado SR80x: which needs more amplifier?

The Dan Clark Audio Expanse is 26Ω at 90.0 dB/mW; the Grado SR80x is 38Ω at 98.0 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 Expanse needs 8.0 dB more than the Grado SR80x to reach the same loudness — 10 mW against 1.6 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationDan Clark Audio ExpanseGrado SR80x
Impedance26 Ω38 Ω
Sensitivity90.0 dB/mW98.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)105.9 dB/V112.2 dB/V
Power for 100 dB10 mW1.6 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.51 V0.25 V
Current for 100 dB19.6 mA6.5 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
3.25 Ω4.75 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
279280

Where the two part company

1 of the 280 sources has the power for the Grado SR80x but not for the Dan Clark Audio Expanse — Steinberg UR22C.

1 source is low enough in output impedance for the Grado SR80x under the one-eighth rule but not for the Dan Clark Audio Expanse (Shanling H5).

279 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 Expanse and Grado SR80x. Every figure on this page comes from what Dan Clark Audio and Grado published, or is derived from it — what Dan Clark Audio publishes and what Grado publishes, both counted.