Dan Clark Audio Stealth vs Sony MDR-7506: which needs more amplifier?

The Dan Clark Audio Stealth is 23Ω at 90.0 dB/mW; the Sony MDR-7506 is 63Ω at 106.0 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 16.0 dB more than the Sony MDR-7506 to reach the same loudness — 10 mW against 0.25 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationDan Clark Audio StealthSony MDR-7506
Impedance23 Ω63 Ω
Sensitivity90.0 dB/mW106.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)106.4 dB/V118.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB10 mW0.25 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.48 V0.13 V
Current for 100 dB20.9 mA2.0 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.88 Ω7.88 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 Sony MDR-7506 but not for the Dan Clark Audio Stealth — Steinberg UR22C.

1 source is low enough in output impedance for the Sony MDR-7506 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 Sony MDR-7506. Every figure on this page comes from what Dan Clark Audio and Sony published, or is derived from it — what Dan Clark Audio publishes and what Sony publishes, both counted.