MACH 10 vs MACH 60: which needs more amplifier?

The Westone MACH 10 is 80Ω at 103.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the Westone MACH 60 is 35Ω at 100.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The MACH 60 needs 3.0 dB more than the MACH 10 to reach the same loudness — 1.0 mW against 0.50 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationMACH 10MACH 60
Impedance80 Ω35 Ω
Sensitivity103.0 dB100.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)114.0 dB/V114.6 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.50 mW1.0 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.20 V0.19 V
Current for 100 dB2.5 mA5.3 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
10.00 Ω4.38 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

One caution before reading the rows. Westone MACH 10 and Westone MACH 60 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.

10 sources are low enough in output impedance for the MACH 10 under the one-eighth rule but not for the MACH 60 (Zoom AMS-22, Arturia MiniFuse 2, Arturia MiniFuse 1, 7 more).

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

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The MACH 10 is more demanding than 59% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the MACH 60 than 56%.

dB SPLMACH 10 powerMACH 10 voltageMACH 60 powerMACH 60 voltage
805.0 µW20 mV0.01 mW19 mV
850.02 mW36 mV0.03 mW33 mV
900.05 mW63 mV0.10 mW59 mV
950.16 mW0.11 V0.32 mW0.11 V
1000.50 mW0.20 V1.0 mW0.19 V
1051.6 mW0.36 V3.2 mW0.33 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, MACH 10Headroom, MACH 60Output impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2013.8 dB14.4 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2922.1 dB22.6 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR11$3613.7 dB14.4 dB0.5 Ω8.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 69 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 69 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 13.8 dB of headroom on the MACH 10 and 14.4 dB on the MACH 60, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 10.00 Ω and 4.38 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 21 dB and 21 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
MACH 1020Hz – 18kHznot printednot printed
MACH 608Hz – 20kHznot printednot printed

Westone prints 20Hz – 18kHz for the MACH 10 and 8Hz – 20kHz for the MACH 60.

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: Westone MACH 10 and Westone MACH 60. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Westone never published — what that maker publishes, counted.

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