The Kiwi Ears Astral is 23Ω at 105.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the Kiwi Ears Cadenza II is 18Ω at 106.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.
The Astral needs 1.0 dB more than the Cadenza II to reach the same loudness — 0.32 mW against 0.25 mW.
| Specification | Astral | Cadenza II |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 23 Ω | 18 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 105.0 dB | 106.0 dB |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 121.4 dB/V | 123.4 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 0.32 mW | 0.25 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 85 mV | 67 mV |
| Current for 100 dB | 3.7 mA | 3.7 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 2.88 Ω | 2.25 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 280 | 280 |
One caution before reading the rows. Kiwi Ears Astral and Kiwi Ears Cadenza II 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.
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 stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Astral but cross it with the Cadenza II (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Lake People G111 Mk II, 1 more).
280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.
The Astral is more demanding than 26% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Cadenza II than 20%.
| dB SPL | Astral power | Astral voltage | Cadenza II power | Cadenza II voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 3.2 µW | 9 mV | 2.5 µW | 7 mV |
| 85 | 0.01 mW | 15 mV | 7.9 µW | 12 mV |
| 90 | 0.03 mW | 27 mV | 0.03 mW | 21 mV |
| 95 | 0.10 mW | 48 mV | 0.08 mW | 38 mV |
| 100 | 0.32 mW | 85 mV | 0.25 mW | 67 mV |
| 105 | 1.0 mW | 0.15 V | 0.79 mW | 0.12 V |
| Source | Price | Headroom, Astral | Headroom, Cadenza II | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JadeAudio JA11 | $20 | 18.3 dB | 18.3 dB | 0.5 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 28.3 dB | 29.7 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR13 | $59 | 25.3 dB | 26.6 dB | 0.6 Ω | 1.0 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 65 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 65 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 18.3 dB of headroom on the Astral and 18.3 dB on the Cadenza II, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 2.88 Ω and 2.25 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Astral | 10Hz - 22kHz | not printed | not printed |
| Cadenza II | 10Hz–29KHz | not printed | not printed |
Kiwi Ears prints 10Hz - 22kHz for the Astral and 10Hz–29KHz for the Cadenza II.
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: Kiwi Ears Astral and Kiwi Ears Cadenza II. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Kiwi Ears never published — what that maker publishes, counted.