The Kinera Mimisbrunnr is 43Ω at 88.3 dB/mW; the Kinera Sylvie is 16Ω at 107.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.
The Mimisbrunnr needs 18.7 dB more than the Sylvie to reach the same loudness — 15 mW against 0.20 mW.
| Specification | Mimisbrunnr | Sylvie |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 43 Ω | 16 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 88.3 dB/mW | 107.0 dB |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 102.0 dB/V | 125.0 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 15 mW | 0.20 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 0.80 V | 57 mV |
| Current for 100 dB | 18.5 mA | 3.5 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 5.38 Ω | 2.00 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 277 | 280 |
One caution before reading the rows. Kinera Sylvie printed a decibel figure with no reference unit, so this page reads it as per milliwatt. If it is really per volt, that model needs far more than the table says. Why the two readings differ by so much.
3 of the 280 sources have the power for the Sylvie but not for the Mimisbrunnr — Apple USB-C dongle (EU), Steinberg UR22C, Sony NW-A306.
1 source is low enough in output impedance for the Mimisbrunnr under the one-eighth rule but not for the Sylvie (Shanling H5).
10 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Mimisbrunnr but cross it with the Sylvie (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Lake People G103-S Mk II, 7 more).
277 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.
The Mimisbrunnr is more demanding than 96% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Sylvie than 14%.
| dB SPL | Mimisbrunnr power | Mimisbrunnr voltage | Sylvie power | Sylvie voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0.15 mW | 80 mV | 2.0 µW | 6 mV |
| 85 | 0.47 mW | 0.14 V | 6.3 µW | 10 mV |
| 90 | 1.5 mW | 0.25 V | 0.02 mW | 18 mV |
| 95 | 4.7 mW | 0.45 V | 0.06 mW | 32 mV |
| 100 | 15 mW | 0.80 V | 0.20 mW | 57 mV |
| 105 | 47 mW | 1.42 V | 0.63 mW | 0.10 V |
| Source | Price | Headroom, Mimisbrunnr | Headroom, Sylvie | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JadeAudio JA11 | $20 | 1.8 dB | 18.8 dB | 0.5 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 10.0 dB | 30.9 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR13 | $59 | 7.0 dB | 27.8 dB | 0.6 Ω | 1.0 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 277 reach 100 dB on both. 62 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 62 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 1.8 dB of headroom on the Mimisbrunnr and 18.8 dB on the Sylvie, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 5.38 Ω and 2.00 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 33 dB and 10 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.
| Model | As printed | Tolerance | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mimisbrunnr | 20Hz – 40kHz | not printed | not printed |
| Sylvie | 20Hz - 20kHz | not printed | not printed |
Kinera prints 20Hz – 40kHz for the Mimisbrunnr and 20Hz - 20kHz for the Sylvie.
Neither range has a tolerance printed beside it, so a wider range on one sheet is not deeper bass or more treble.
Not a measurement; maker by maker.
Both have a page of their own. In full: Kinera Mimisbrunnr and Kinera Sylvie. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Kinera never published — what that maker publishes, counted.