MACH 60 vs MACH 80: which needs more amplifier?

The Westone MACH 60 is 35Ω at 100.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the Westone MACH 80 is 66Ω at 104.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The MACH 60 needs 4.0 dB more than the MACH 80 to reach the same loudness — 1.0 mW against 0.40 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationMACH 60MACH 80
Impedance35 Ω66 Ω
Sensitivity100.0 dB104.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)114.6 dB/V115.8 dB/V
Power for 100 dB1.0 mW0.40 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.19 V0.16 V
Current for 100 dB5.3 mA2.5 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.38 Ω8.25 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

One caution before reading the rows. Westone MACH 60 and Westone MACH 80 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.

1 source is low enough in output impedance for the MACH 80 under the one-eighth rule but not for the MACH 60 (Shanling H5).

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

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The MACH 60 is more demanding than 56% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the MACH 80 than 51%.

dB SPLMACH 60 powerMACH 60 voltageMACH 80 powerMACH 80 voltage
800.01 mW19 mV4.0 µW16 mV
850.03 mW33 mV0.01 mW29 mV
900.10 mW59 mV0.04 mW51 mV
950.32 mW0.11 V0.13 mW91 mV
1001.0 mW0.19 V0.40 mW0.16 V
1053.2 mW0.33 V1.3 mW0.29 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, MACH 60Headroom, MACH 80Output impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2014.4 dB15.6 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2922.6 dB23.9 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR11$3614.4 dB15.6 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 14.4 dB of headroom on the MACH 60 and 15.6 dB on the MACH 80, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 4.38 Ω and 8.25 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 21 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.

What each sheet prints, and what it is worth

ModelAs printedToleranceStandard
MACH 608Hz – 20kHznot printednot printed
MACH 805Hz – 22kHznot printednot printed

Westone prints 8Hz – 20kHz for the MACH 60 and 5Hz – 22kHz for the MACH 80.

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 60 and Westone MACH 80. 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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