Dan Clark Audio Stealth vs Focal Clear MG: which needs more amplifier?

The Dan Clark Audio Stealth is 23Ω 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 Stealth 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 StealthFocal Clear MG
Impedance23 Ω55 Ω
Sensitivity90.0 dB/mW104.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)106.4 dB/V116.6 dB/V
Power for 100 dB10 mW0.40 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.48 V0.15 V
Current for 100 dB20.9 mA2.7 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.88 Ω6.88 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 Focal Clear MG but not for the Dan Clark Audio Stealth — Steinberg UR22C.

1 source is low enough in output impedance for the Focal Clear MG under the one-eighth rule but not for the Dan Clark Audio Stealth (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 Stealth 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.