The Grado PS2000e is 32Ω at 99.0 dB (no figure from the maker at all); the Grado Signature HP100 SE is 38Ω at 117.0 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 PS2000e needs 18.0 dB more than the Signature HP100 SE to reach the same loudness — 1.3 mW against 0.02 mW.
| Specification | PS2000e | Signature HP100 SE |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 32 Ω | 38 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 99.0 dB | 117.0 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 113.9 dB/V | 131.2 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 1.3 mW | 0.02 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 0.20 V | 28 mV |
| Current for 100 dB | 6.3 mA | 0.7 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 4.00 Ω | 4.75 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 280 | 280 |
One caution before reading the rows. For Grado PS2000e the maker publishes no sensitivity figure at all. The number in the table was collected when this database was first built and has never been traced to a manufacturer document, so treat every row below it as an estimate rather than a specification.
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.
1 source is low enough in output impedance for the Signature HP100 SE under the one-eighth rule but not for the PS2000e (Shanling H5).
27 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the PS2000e but cross it with the Signature HP100 SE (Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11, 24 more).
280 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.
Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: Grado PS2000e and Grado Signature HP100 SE. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Grado never published — what that maker publishes, counted.