Hype 10 vs Prestige LTD: which needs more amplifier?

The Thieaudio Hype 10 is 18Ω at 87.6 dB/mW; the Thieaudio Prestige LTD is 22Ω at 99.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The Hype 10 needs 11.4 dB more than the Prestige LTD to reach the same loudness — 17 mW against 1.3 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationHype 10Prestige LTD
Impedance18 Ω22 Ω
Sensitivity87.6 dB/mW99.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)105.0 dB/V115.6 dB/V
Power for 100 dB17 mW1.3 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.56 V0.17 V
Current for 100 dB31.1 mA7.6 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.25 Ω2.75 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
264280

One caution before reading the rows. Thieaudio Prestige LTD printed a decibel figure with no reference unit, so this page reads it as per milliwatt. If it is really per volt, that model needs far more than the table says. Why the two readings differ by so much.

Where the two part company

16 of the 280 sources have the power for the Prestige LTD but not for the Hype 10 — Apple USB-C dongle (US), Apple USB-C dongle (EU), JadeAudio JA11, 13 more.

1 source stays below the audible-hiss threshold with the Hype 10 but crosses it with the Prestige LTD (Schiit Mjolnir 3).

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

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The Hype 10 is more demanding than 88% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Prestige LTD than 51%.

dB SPLHype 10 powerHype 10 voltagePrestige LTD powerPrestige LTD voltage
800.17 mW56 mV0.01 mW17 mV
850.55 mW99 mV0.04 mW30 mV
901.7 mW0.18 V0.13 mW53 mV
955.5 mW0.31 V0.40 mW94 mV
10017 mW0.56 V1.3 mW0.17 V
10555 mW0.99 V4.0 mW0.30 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, Hype 10Headroom, Prestige LTDOutput impedanceNoise
FiiO KA11$2911.3 dB22.4 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR11$363.8 dB14.6 dB0.5 Ω8.0 µV
FiiO BTR13$598.2 dB19.3 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 264 reach 100 dB on both. 68 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 68 is the FiiO KA11, at $29. It leaves 11.3 dB of headroom on the Hype 10 and 22.4 dB on the Prestige LTD, its output impedance is 0.7 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 2.25 Ω and 2.75 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 30 dB and 20 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.

Try any other source.

Both pages in full

Both have a page of their own. In full: Thieaudio Hype 10 and Thieaudio Prestige LTD. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Thieaudio never published — what that maker publishes, counted.

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