The Elysian Acoustic Labs Apostle 2026 is 10Ω at 97.0 dB/mW; the Elysian Acoustic Labs Pilgrim Noir is 8.3Ω at 102.2 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.
The Apostle 2026 needs 5.2 dB more than the Pilgrim Noir to reach the same loudness — 2.0 mW against 0.60 mW.
| Specification | Apostle 2026 | Pilgrim Noir |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 10 Ω | 8.3 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 97.0 dB/mW | 102.2 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 117.0 dB/V | 123.0 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 2.0 mW | 0.60 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 0.14 V | 71 mV |
| Current for 100 dB | 14.1 mA | 8.5 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 1.25 Ω | 1.04 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 280 | 280 |
Every source in the database that drives one of them drives the other. On power, the choice between these two changes nothing about what amplifier you need.
4 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Apostle 2026 under the one-eighth rule but not for the Pilgrim Noir (FiiO K11, FiiO BTR7, FiiO Q7, 1 more).
3 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Apostle 2026 but cross it with the Pilgrim Noir (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Rupert Neve RNHP).
280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.
The Apostle 2026 is more demanding than 44% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Pilgrim Noir than 21%.
| dB SPL | Apostle 2026 power | Apostle 2026 voltage | Pilgrim Noir power | Pilgrim Noir voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0.02 mW | 14 mV | 6.0 µW | 7 mV |
| 85 | 0.06 mW | 25 mV | 0.02 mW | 13 mV |
| 90 | 0.20 mW | 45 mV | 0.06 mW | 22 mV |
| 95 | 0.63 mW | 79 mV | 0.19 mW | 40 mV |
| 100 | 2.0 mW | 0.14 V | 0.60 mW | 71 mV |
| 105 | 6.3 mW | 0.25 V | 1.9 mW | 0.13 V |
| Source | Price | Headroom, Apostle 2026 | Headroom, Pilgrim Noir | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JadeAudio JA11 | $20 | 6.7 dB | 11.1 dB | 0.5 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 18.9 dB | 23.2 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR13 | $59 | 15.8 dB | 20.1 dB | 0.6 Ω | 1.0 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 59 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 59 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 6.7 dB of headroom on the Apostle 2026 and 11.1 dB on the Pilgrim Noir, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 1.25 Ω and 1.04 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 18 dB and 12 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.
| Model | As printed | Tolerance | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apostle 2026 | 20Hz~ 40kHz | not printed | not printed |
| Pilgrim Noir | nothing printed | — | — |
Elysian Acoustic Labs prints 20Hz~ 40kHz for the Apostle 2026 and nothing at all for the Pilgrim Noir.
Pilgrim Noir: The nearest thing to a range on the page is a sentence in the product copy saying the driver is capable of reaching “as low as 10Hz”. That is a claim about one end, not a range.
So one side of this comparison has a frequency-response number and the other does not — which changes less than it looks. The range printed for the Apostle 2026 comes with no tolerance beside it, and a range without a ±dB figure says nothing about how loud the headphone is at either end of it: thirty decibels down at the bottom and the sentence would still be true. On the only reading that would have made it a specification, the two sheets say the same amount: nothing.
Not a measurement; maker by maker.
Both have a page of their own. In full: Elysian Acoustic Labs Apostle 2026 and Elysian Acoustic Labs Pilgrim Noir. Every figure on this page comes from what Elysian Acoustic Labs published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.