109 Pro vs Empyrean II: which needs more amplifier?

The Meze 109 Pro is 40Ω at 112.0 dB/mW; the Meze Empyrean II is 32Ω at 90.0 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 Empyrean II needs 22.0 dB more than the 109 Pro to reach the same loudness — 10 mW against 0.06 mW.

The numbers that decide it

Specification109 ProEmpyrean II
Impedance40 Ω32 Ω
Sensitivity112.0 dB/mW90.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)126.0 dB/V104.9 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.06 mW10 mW
Voltage for 100 dB50 mV0.57 V
Current for 100 dB1.3 mA17.7 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
5.00 Ω4.00 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 109 Pro under the one-eighth rule but not for the Empyrean II (Shanling H5).

13 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Empyrean II but cross it with the 109 Pro (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 109 Pro and Meze Empyrean II. Every figure on this page comes from what Meze published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.