SRH145 vs SRH940: which needs more amplifier?

The Shure SRH145 is 34Ω at 100.0 dB/mW; the Shure SRH940 is 42Ω at 100.0 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.

In amplifier terms these two are the same headphone. The gap between what they need for 100 dB is under half a decibel, which is smaller than the step between two clicks of most volume controls.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationSRH145SRH940
Impedance34 Ω42 Ω
Sensitivity100.0 dB/mW100.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)114.7 dB/V113.8 dB/V
Power for 100 dB1.0 mW1.0 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.18 V0.20 V
Current for 100 dB5.4 mA4.9 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.25 Ω5.25 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 SRH940 under the one-eighth rule but not for the SRH145 (Shanling H5).

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: Shure SRH145 and Shure SRH940. Every figure on this page comes from what Shure published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.