Tianpeng vs Xuan Nv: which needs more amplifier?

The Tangzu Tianpeng is 9.8Ω at 104.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the Tangzu Xuan Nv is 8.5Ω at 98.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The Xuan Nv needs 6.0 dB more than the Tianpeng to reach the same loudness — 1.6 mW against 0.40 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationTianpengXuan Nv
Impedance9.8 Ω8.5 Ω
Sensitivity104.0 dB98.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)124.1 dB/V118.7 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.40 mW1.6 mW
Voltage for 100 dB62 mV0.12 V
Current for 100 dB6.4 mA13.7 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
1.23 Ω1.06 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

One caution before reading the rows. Tangzu Tianpeng and Tangzu Xuan Nv 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.

4 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Tianpeng under the one-eighth rule but not for the Xuan Nv (FiiO K11, FiiO BTR7, FiiO Q7, 1 more).

6 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Xuan Nv but cross it with the Tianpeng (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Schiit Valhalla 3, 3 more).

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

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The Xuan Nv is more demanding than 38% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Tianpeng than 17%.

dB SPLTianpeng powerTianpeng voltageXuan Nv powerXuan Nv voltage
804.0 µW6 mV0.02 mW12 mV
850.01 mW11 mV0.05 mW21 mV
900.04 mW20 mV0.16 mW37 mV
950.13 mW35 mV0.50 mW65 mV
1000.40 mW62 mV1.6 mW0.12 V
1051.3 mW0.11 V5.0 mW0.21 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, TianpengHeadroom, Xuan NvOutput impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2013.6 dB7.0 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2925.8 dB19.1 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13$5922.7 dB16.0 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 58 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 58 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 13.6 dB of headroom on the Tianpeng and 7.0 dB on the Xuan Nv, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 1.23 Ω and 1.06 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 11 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
Tianpeng20Hz-20kHznot printednot printed
Xuan Nv7Hz-20kHznot printednot printed

Tangzu prints 20Hz-20kHz for the Tianpeng and 7Hz-20kHz for the Xuan Nv.

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 Tianpeng and Tangzu Xuan Nv. 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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