530 Pro vs K5: which needs more amplifier?

The EPZ 530 Pro is 32Ω at 110.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the EPZ K5 is 28Ω at 114.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The 530 Pro needs 4.0 dB more than the K5 to reach the same loudness — 0.10 mW against 0.04 mW.

The numbers that decide it

Specification530 ProK5
Impedance32 Ω28 Ω
Sensitivity110.0 dB114.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)124.9 dB/V129.5 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.10 mW0.04 mW
Voltage for 100 dB57 mV33 mV
Current for 100 dB1.8 mA1.2 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.00 Ω3.50 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

One caution before reading the rows. EPZ 530 Pro and EPZ K5 printed a decibel figure with no reference unit, so this page reads it as per milliwatt. If it is really per volt, each of them needs far more than the table says. Why the two readings differ by so much.

Where the two part company

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.

12 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the 530 Pro but cross it with the K5 (Fosi Audio SK02, Grace Design m900, FiiO M33 R2R, 9 more).

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

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The 530 Pro is more demanding than 15% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the K5 than 4%.

dB SPL530 Pro power530 Pro voltageK5 powerK5 voltage
801.0 µW6 mV0.4 µW3 mV
853.2 µW10 mV1.3 µW6 mV
900.01 mW18 mV4.0 µW11 mV
950.03 mW32 mV0.01 mW19 mV
1000.10 mW57 mV0.04 mW33 mV
1050.32 mW0.10 V0.13 mW59 mV

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, 530 ProHeadroom, K5Output impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2024.8 dB28.2 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2933.0 dB37.1 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13$5930.0 dB34.1 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 51 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 51 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 24.8 dB of headroom on the 530 Pro and 28.2 dB on the K5, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 4.00 Ω and 3.50 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 10 dB and 6 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.

Try any other source.

What each sheet prints, and what it is worth

ModelAs printedToleranceStandard
530 Pro20Hz–20kHznot printednot printed
K520Hz–20kHznot printednot printed

EPZ prints the same thing for both the 530 Pro and the K5: 20Hz–20kHz.

Neither range has a tolerance printed beside it, so the matching numbers say little.

Not a measurement; maker by maker.

Both pages in full

Both have a page of their own. In full: EPZ 530 Pro and EPZ K5. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones EPZ never published — what that maker publishes, counted.

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