Li Zhi vs Zetian Wu: which needs more amplifier?

The Tangzu Li Zhi is 18Ω at 107.5 dB (no reference unit printed); the Tangzu Zetian Wu is 16Ω at 100.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The Zetian Wu needs 7.5 dB more than the Li Zhi to reach the same loudness — 1.0 mW against 0.18 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationLi ZhiZetian Wu
Impedance18 Ω16 Ω
Sensitivity107.5 dB100.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)124.9 dB/V118.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.18 mW1.0 mW
Voltage for 100 dB57 mV0.13 V
Current for 100 dB3.1 mA7.9 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.25 Ω2.00 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

One caution before reading the rows. Tangzu Li Zhi and Tangzu Zetian Wu 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.

9 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Zetian Wu but cross it with the Li Zhi (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Lake People G103-S Mk II, 6 more).

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

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The Zetian Wu is more demanding than 40% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Li Zhi than 16%.

dB SPLLi Zhi powerLi Zhi voltageZetian Wu powerZetian Wu voltage
801.8 µW6 mV0.01 mW13 mV
855.6 µW10 mV0.03 mW22 mV
900.02 mW18 mV0.10 mW40 mV
950.06 mW32 mV0.32 mW71 mV
1000.18 mW57 mV1.0 mW0.13 V
1050.56 mW0.10 V3.2 mW0.22 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, Li ZhiHeadroom, Zetian WuOutput impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2019.8 dB11.8 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2931.2 dB23.9 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13$5928.1 dB20.8 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 19.8 dB of headroom on the Li Zhi and 11.8 dB on the Zetian Wu, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 2.25 Ω and 2.00 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 10 dB and 17 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
Li Zhi20Hz-20.000kHznot printednot printed
Zetian Wu20- 20khznot printednot printed

Tangzu prints 20Hz-20.000kHz for the Li Zhi. Concept Kart, a retailer lists 20- 20khz for the Zetian Wu. That figure stands on Concept Kart, a retailer, not on a document published by the maker.

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 Li Zhi and Tangzu Zetian Wu. 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.

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