99 Classics vs ARTA: which needs more amplifier?

The Meze 99 Classics is 32Ω at 103.0 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 5.0 dB more than the 99 Classics to reach the same loudness — 1.6 mW against 0.50 mW.

Side by side

The numbers that decide it

Specification	99 Classics	ARTA
Impedance	32 Ω	225 Ω
Sensitivity	103.0 dB/mW	98.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)	117.9 dB/V	104.5 dB/V
Power for 100 dB	0.50 mW	1.6 mW
Voltage for 100 dB	0.13 V	0.60 V
Current for 100 dB	4.0 mA	2.7 mA
Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)	4.00 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.

19 sources are low enough in output impedance for the ARTA under the one-eighth rule but not for the 99 Classics (Zoom AMS-22, Arturia MiniFuse 2, Arturia MiniFuse 1, 16 more).

1 source stays below the audible-hiss threshold with the ARTA but crosses it with the 99 Classics (Schiit Mjolnir 3).

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 99 Classics than 41%.

dB SPL	99 Classics power	99 Classics voltage	ARTA power	ARTA voltage
80	5.0 µW	13 mV	0.02 mW	60 mV
85	0.02 mW	23 mV	0.05 mW	0.11 V
90	0.05 mW	40 mV	0.16 mW	0.19 V
95	0.16 mW	71 mV	0.50 mW	0.34 V
100	0.50 mW	0.13 V	1.6 mW	0.60 V
105	1.6 mW	0.23 V	5.0 mW	1.06 V

What drives both

The cheapest source that satisfies both

Source	Price	Headroom, 99 Classics	Headroom, ARTA	Output impedance	Noise
JadeAudio JA11	$20	17.8 dB	4.3 dB	0.5 Ω	1.7 µV
FiiO KA11	$29	26.0 dB	12.6 dB	0.7 Ω	1.7 µV
FiiO BTR11	$36	17.8 dB	4.1 dB	0.5 Ω	8.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 69 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 69 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 17.8 dB of headroom on the 99 Classics and 4.3 dB on the ARTA, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 4.00 Ω and 28.12 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 17 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
99 Classics	15 Hz - 25 kHz	not printed	not printed
ARTA	3 Hz - 115 kHz	not printed	not printed

Meze prints 15 Hz - 25 kHz for the 99 Classics 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 99 Classics and Meze ARTA. Every figure on this page comes from what Meze published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.