Fudu Verse 1 vs Li Zhi: which needs more amplifier?

The Tangzu Fudu Verse 1 is 16Ω at 106.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the Tangzu Li Zhi is 18Ω at 107.5 dB (no reference unit printed). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The Fudu Verse 1 needs 1.5 dB more than the Li Zhi to reach the same loudness — 0.25 mW against 0.18 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationFudu Verse 1Li Zhi
Impedance16 Ω18 Ω
Sensitivity106.0 dB107.5 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)124.0 dB/V124.9 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.25 mW0.18 mW
Voltage for 100 dB63 mV57 mV
Current for 100 dB4.0 mA3.1 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.00 Ω2.25 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

One caution before reading the rows. Tangzu Fudu Verse 1 and Tangzu Li Zhi printed a decibel figure with no reference unit, so this page reads it as per milliwatt. If it is really per volt, each of them needs far more than the table says. Why the two readings differ by so much.

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 Fudu Verse 1 but cross it with the Li Zhi (Lake People G103-S Mk II, Schiit Valhalla 3, RME Babyface Pro FS, 2 more).

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

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The Fudu Verse 1 is more demanding than 18% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Li Zhi than 16%.

dB SPLFudu Verse 1 powerFudu Verse 1 voltageLi Zhi powerLi Zhi voltage
802.5 µW6 mV1.8 µW6 mV
857.9 µW11 mV5.6 µW10 mV
900.03 mW20 mV0.02 mW18 mV
950.08 mW36 mV0.06 mW32 mV
1000.25 mW63 mV0.18 mW57 mV
1050.79 mW0.11 V0.56 mW0.10 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, Fudu Verse 1Headroom, Li ZhiOutput impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2017.8 dB19.8 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2929.9 dB31.2 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13$5926.8 dB28.1 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 62 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 62 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 17.8 dB of headroom on the Fudu Verse 1 and 19.8 dB on the Li Zhi, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 2.00 Ω and 2.25 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 11 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
Fudu Verse 120 Hz - 20 kHznot printednot printed
Li Zhi20Hz-20.000kHznot printednot printed

Tangzu prints 20 Hz - 20 kHz for the Fudu Verse 1 and 20Hz-20.000kHz for the Li Zhi.

Li Zhi: Tangzu prints the top of the range as “20.000kHz”. As a decimal point that is 20 kHz; as a thousands separator it would be twenty megahertz. Either way the range it describes is the audible band and nothing beyond it.

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: Tangzu Fudu Verse 1 and Tangzu Li Zhi. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Tangzu never published — what that maker publishes, counted.

↑