105 AER vs 99 Neo: which needs more amplifier?

The Meze 105 AER is 42Ω at 112.0 dB/mW; the Meze 99 Neo is 26Ω at 103.0 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 99 Neo needs 9.0 dB more than the 105 AER to reach the same loudness — 0.50 mW against 0.06 mW.

The numbers that decide it

Specification105 AER99 Neo
Impedance42 Ω26 Ω
Sensitivity112.0 dB/mW103.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)125.8 dB/V118.9 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.06 mW0.50 mW
Voltage for 100 dB51 mV0.11 V
Current for 100 dB1.2 mA4.4 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
5.25 Ω3.25 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

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.

1 source is low enough in output impedance for the 105 AER under the one-eighth rule but not for the 99 Neo (Shanling H5).

13 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the 99 Neo but cross it with the 105 AER (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Lake People G103-S Mk II, 10 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.

Both pages in full

Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: Meze 105 AER and Meze 99 Neo. Every figure on this page comes from what Meze published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.