105 AER vs ARTA: which needs more amplifier?

The Meze 105 AER is 42Ω at 112.0 dB/mW; the Meze ARTA is 225Ω at 98.0 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The ARTA needs 14.0 dB more than the 105 AER to reach the same loudness — 1.6 mW against 0.06 mW.

Side by side

The numbers that decide it

Specification	105 AER	ARTA
Impedance	42 Ω	225 Ω
Sensitivity	112.0 dB/mW	98.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)	125.8 dB/V	104.5 dB/V
Power for 100 dB	0.06 mW	1.6 mW
Voltage for 100 dB	51 mV	0.60 V
Current for 100 dB	1.2 mA	2.7 mA
Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)	5.25 Ω	28.12 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280	280	280

What separates them

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.

18 sources are low enough in output impedance for the ARTA under the one-eighth rule but not for the 105 AER (Zoom AMS-22, Arturia MiniFuse 2, Arturia MiniFuse 1, 15 more).

15 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the ARTA but cross it with the 105 AER (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Lake People G103-S Mk II, 12 more).

280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.

At the level you actually listen at

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The ARTA is more demanding than 91% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the 105 AER than 12%.

dB SPL	105 AER power	105 AER voltage	ARTA power	ARTA voltage
80	0.6 µW	5 mV	0.02 mW	60 mV
85	2.0 µW	9 mV	0.05 mW	0.11 V
90	6.3 µW	16 mV	0.16 mW	0.19 V
95	0.02 mW	29 mV	0.50 mW	0.34 V
100	0.06 mW	51 mV	1.6 mW	0.60 V
105	0.20 mW	92 mV	5.0 mW	1.06 V

What drives both

The cheapest source that satisfies both

Source	Price	Headroom, 105 AER	Headroom, ARTA	Output impedance	Noise
JadeAudio JA11	$20	25.6 dB	4.3 dB	0.5 Ω	1.7 µV
FiiO KA11	$29	33.8 dB	12.6 dB	0.7 Ω	1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13	$59	30.8 dB	9.3 dB	0.6 Ω	1.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 57 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 57 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 25.6 dB of headroom on the 105 AER and 4.3 dB on the ARTA, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 5.25 Ω and 28.12 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 10 dB and 31 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.

Try any other source.

Frequency response

What each sheet prints, and what it is worth

Model	As printed	Tolerance	Standard
105 AER	5 Hz - 30 kHz	not printed	not printed
ARTA	3 Hz - 115 kHz	not printed	not printed

Meze prints 5 Hz - 30 kHz for the 105 AER and 3 Hz - 115 kHz for the ARTA.

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 pages in full

Both have a page of their own. In full: Meze 105 AER and Meze ARTA. Every figure on this page comes from what Meze published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.