The Kiwi Ears Orchestra II is 15Ω at 110.0 dB/mW; the Kiwi Ears Stardust is 13Ω at 107.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.
The Stardust needs 3.0 dB more than the Orchestra II to reach the same loudness — 0.20 mW against 0.10 mW.
| Specification | Orchestra II | Stardust |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 15 Ω | 13 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 110.0 dB/mW | 107.0 dB |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 128.2 dB/V | 125.9 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 0.10 mW | 0.20 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 39 mV | 51 mV |
| Current for 100 dB | 2.6 mA | 3.9 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 1.88 Ω | 1.62 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 280 | 280 |
One caution before reading the rows. Kiwi Ears Stardust 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.
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.
2 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Orchestra II under the one-eighth rule but not for the Stardust (FiiO KA13, Schiit Vali 2+).
4 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Stardust but cross it with the Orchestra II (Grace Design m900, Schiit Lyr 5, FiiO K17, 1 more).
280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.
The Stardust is more demanding than 12% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Orchestra II than 6%.
| dB SPL | Orchestra II power | Orchestra II voltage | Stardust power | Stardust voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 1.0 µW | 4 mV | 2.0 µW | 5 mV |
| 85 | 3.2 µW | 7 mV | 6.3 µW | 9 mV |
| 90 | 0.01 mW | 12 mV | 0.02 mW | 16 mV |
| 95 | 0.03 mW | 22 mV | 0.06 mW | 29 mV |
| 100 | 0.10 mW | 39 mV | 0.20 mW | 51 mV |
| 105 | 0.32 mW | 69 mV | 0.63 mW | 91 mV |
| Source | Price | Headroom, Orchestra II | Headroom, Stardust | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JadeAudio JA11 | $20 | 21.5 dB | 17.9 dB | 0.5 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 33.6 dB | 30.0 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR13 | $59 | 30.5 dB | 26.9 dB | 0.6 Ω | 1.0 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 52 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 52 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 21.5 dB of headroom on the Orchestra II and 17.9 dB on the Stardust, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 1.88 Ω and 1.62 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orchestra II | 20Hz-20KHz | not printed | not printed |
| Stardust | 20Hz–40kHz | not printed | not printed |
Kiwi Ears prints 20Hz-20KHz for the Orchestra II and 20Hz–40kHz for the Stardust.
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 Orchestra II and Kiwi Ears Stardust. 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.