The Meze Alba is 32Ω at 109.0 dB/mW; the Meze Rai Penta is 20Ω at 110.0 dB (no figure from the maker at all). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.
The Alba needs 1.0 dB more than the Rai Penta to reach the same loudness — 0.13 mW against 0.10 mW.
| Specification | Alba | Rai Penta |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 32 Ω | 20 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 109.0 dB/mW | 110.0 dB |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 123.9 dB/V | 127.0 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 0.13 mW | 0.10 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 63 mV | 45 mV |
| Current for 100 dB | 2.0 mA | 2.2 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 4.00 Ω | 2.50 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 280 | 280 |
One caution before reading the rows. For Meze Rai Penta the maker publishes no sensitivity figure at all. The number in the table was collected when this database was first built and has never been traced to a manufacturer document, so treat every row below it as an estimate rather than a specification.
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.
12 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Alba but cross it with the Rai Penta (Lake People G103-S Mk II, Schiit Valhalla 3, Grace Design m900, 9 more).
280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.
The Alba is more demanding than 19% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Rai Penta than 9%.
| dB SPL | Alba power | Alba voltage | Rai Penta power | Rai Penta voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 1.3 µW | 6 mV | 1.0 µW | 4 mV |
| 85 | 4.0 µW | 11 mV | 3.2 µW | 8 mV |
| 90 | 0.01 mW | 20 mV | 0.01 mW | 14 mV |
| 95 | 0.04 mW | 36 mV | 0.03 mW | 25 mV |
| 100 | 0.13 mW | 63 mV | 0.10 mW | 45 mV |
| 105 | 0.40 mW | 0.11 V | 0.32 mW | 80 mV |
| Source | Price | Headroom, Alba | Headroom, Rai Penta | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JadeAudio JA11 | $20 | 23.8 dB | 22.7 dB | 0.5 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 32.0 dB | 33.5 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR13 | $59 | 29.0 dB | 30.4 dB | 0.6 Ω | 1.0 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 55 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 55 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 23.8 dB of headroom on the Alba and 22.7 dB on the Rai Penta, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 4.00 Ω and 2.50 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 11 dB and 8 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.
Both have a page of their own. In full: Meze Alba and Meze Rai Penta. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Meze never published — what that maker publishes, counted.