109 Pro vs STRADA: which needs more amplifier?

The Meze 109 Pro is 40Ω at 112.0 dB/mW; the Meze STRADA is 40Ω at 111.0 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The STRADA needs 1.0 dB more than the 109 Pro to reach the same loudness — 0.08 mW against 0.06 mW.

The numbers that decide it

Specification109 ProSTRADA
Impedance40 Ω40 Ω
Sensitivity112.0 dB/mW111.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)126.0 dB/V125.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.06 mW0.08 mW
Voltage for 100 dB50 mV56 mV
Current for 100 dB1.3 mA1.4 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
5.00 Ω5.00 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.

5 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the STRADA but cross it with the 109 Pro (FiiO M33 R2R, SPL Phonitor se, SPL Phonitor xe, 2 more).

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

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The STRADA is more demanding than 14% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the 109 Pro than 11%.

dB SPL109 Pro power109 Pro voltageSTRADA powerSTRADA voltage
800.6 µW5 mV0.8 µW6 mV
852.0 µW9 mV2.5 µW10 mV
906.3 µW16 mV7.9 µW18 mV
950.02 mW28 mV0.03 mW32 mV
1000.06 mW50 mV0.08 mW56 mV
1050.20 mW89 mV0.25 mW0.10 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, 109 ProHeadroom, STRADAOutput impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2025.8 dB24.8 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2934.0 dB33.0 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13$5931.0 dB30.0 dB0.6 Ω1.0 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 25.8 dB of headroom on the 109 Pro and 24.8 dB on the STRADA, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 5.00 Ω for both, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 9 dB and 10 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.

Try any other source.

What each sheet prints, and what it is worth

ModelAs printedToleranceStandard
109 Pro5 Hz - 30 kHznot printednot printed
STRADA5 Hz - 30 kHznot printednot printed

Meze prints the same thing for both the 109 Pro and the STRADA: 5 Hz - 30 kHz.

Neither range has a tolerance printed beside it, so the matching numbers say little.

Not a measurement; maker by maker.

Both pages in full

Both have a page of their own. In full: Meze 109 Pro and Meze STRADA. Every figure on this page comes from what Meze published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.

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