The Gustard H26 is a desktop amplifier at $1099. It delivers 9.7 W into 32Ω and 1.0 W into 300Ω, which ranks it 3 of 280 for raw power among the sources in this database.
Measured at 100 dB SPL it has comfortable headroom on 566 of the 567 dynamic and planar headphones catalogued here and enough but not generous on 1. High-end balanced amp. The manual publishes one figure at one load and plots the rest as curves, so most of this table is derived.
The shop listings these figures stand on quote 9.7 W into 32Ω. The rest of the table is worked out from those.
The published figures describe the balanced output. A single-ended jack on the same unit will put out less — usually about half the voltage and a quarter of the power.
Derived rows hold output voltage steady, as an amplifier does (method).
One caveat about the source. None of the addresses below is a Gustard document. The figures here stand on ManualsLib, a manual aggregator and Apos Audio, a retailer, which are transcriptions of the factory table rather than the table itself. A transcription is usually faithful and may well be exact here — but it can carry an old revision, and nothing on this site would notice if it did. Find these numbers on Gustard's own site and send the link; this paragraph comes off.
Source: manualslib.com, apos.audio.
| Load | Power | Status | How it was arrived at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32 Ω | 9.7 W | Quoted by a shop | a shop or distributor listing quotes this figure at this exact load; the maker publishes nothing this site could find |
| 150 Ω | 2.1 W | Derived | beyond the published loads, holding output voltage constant — which understates rather than flatters |
| 300 Ω | 1.0 W | Derived | beyond the published loads, holding output voltage constant — which understates rather than flatters |
| 600 Ω | 517 mW | Derived | beyond the published loads, holding output voltage constant — which understates rather than flatters |
Easiest to hardest to drive, with headroom at a 100 dB SPL peak.
| Headphone | Impedance | Sensitivity | Needs | Headroom | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shure SE846 | 9 Ω | 114.0 dB/mW | 0.04 mW | +48 dB | Comfortable |
| 64 Audio U12t | 12.6 Ω | 108.0 dB/mW | 0.16 mW | +44 dB | Comfortable |
| Shure SE215 | 17 Ω | 107.0 dB/mW | 0.20 mW | +44 dB | Comfortable |
| Moondrop Aria | 32 Ω | 107.1 dB/mW | 0.19 mW | +47 dB | Comfortable |
| Audeze LCD-X 2021 | 20 Ω | 103.0 dB/mW | 0.50 mW | +41 dB | Comfortable |
| Truthear Hexa | 20.5 Ω | 103.1 dB/mW | 0.49 mW | +41 dB | Comfortable |
| Sennheiser IE 200 | 18 Ω | 101.6 dB/mW | 0.69 mW | +39 dB | Comfortable |
| Sony MDR-7506 | 63 Ω | 106.0 dB/mW | 0.25 mW | +43 dB | Comfortable |
| Meze 99 Classics | 32 Ω | 103.0 dB/mW | 0.50 mW | +43 dB | Comfortable |
| Focal Clear MG | 55 Ω | 104.0 dB/mW | 0.40 mW | +42 dB | Comfortable |
| Philips SHP9500 | 32 Ω | 101.0 dB | 0.79 mW | +41 dB | Comfortable |
| Focal Utopia | 80 Ω | 104.0 dB/mW | 0.40 mW | +40 dB | Comfortable |
| Meze Empyrean | 32 Ω | 100.0 dB | 1.0 mW | +40 dB | Comfortable |
| Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 | 9 Ω | 94.0 dB | 4.0 mW | +28 dB | Comfortable |
| Etymotic ER2SE | 15 Ω | 96.0 dB/mW | 2.5 mW | +33 dB | Comfortable |
| AKG K371 | 32 Ω | 99.1 dB/mW | 1.2 mW | +39 dB | Comfortable |
| Audio-Technica ATH-M50X | 38 Ω | 99.0 dB/mW | 1.3 mW | +38 dB | Comfortable |
| Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X | 48 Ω | 100.0 dB/mW | 1.0 mW | +38 dB | Comfortable |
| Audeze LCD-2 Classic | 70 Ω | 101.0 dB/mW | 0.79 mW | +37 dB | Comfortable |
| Grado SR80x | 38 Ω | 98.0 dB/mW | 1.6 mW | +37 dB | Comfortable |
| Sennheiser HD 560S | 120 Ω | 100.8 dB/mW | 0.83 mW | +35 dB | Comfortable |
| HiFiMAN Edition XS | 18 Ω | 92.0 dB | 6.3 mW | +29 dB | Comfortable |
| HiFiMAN Arya Stealth | 32 Ω | 94.0 dB | 4.0 mW | +34 dB | Comfortable |
| Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed | 13 Ω | 90.0 dB/mW | 10 mW | +26 dB | Comfortable |
| Audeze LCD-5 | 14 Ω | 90.0 dB/mW | 10 mW | +26 dB | Comfortable |
| Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω) | 250 Ω | 102.0 dB/mW | 0.63 mW | +33 dB | Comfortable |
| HiFiMAN HE400se | 25 Ω | 91.0 dB | 7.9 mW | +30 dB | Comfortable |
| HiFiMAN Sundara | 32 Ω | 92.0 dB | 6.3 mW | +32 dB | Comfortable |
| Dan Clark Audio Stealth | 23 Ω | 90.0 dB/mW | 10 mW | +28 dB | Comfortable |
| Fostex T50RP MK3 | 50 Ω | 92.0 dB/mW | 6.3 mW | +30 dB | Comfortable |
| AKG K702 | 62 Ω | 92.9 dB/mW | 5.1 mW | +30 dB | Comfortable |
| ZMF Verite Closed | 300 Ω | 99.0 dB/mW | 1.3 mW | +29 dB | Comfortable |
| Sennheiser HD 650 | 300 Ω | 97.8 dB/mW | 1.7 mW | +28 dB | Comfortable |
| Sennheiser HD 800S | 300 Ω | 96.8 dB/mW | 2.1 mW | +27 dB | Comfortable |
| Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (250Ω) | 250 Ω | 96.0 dB | 2.5 mW | +27 dB | Comfortable |
| Audio-Technica ATH-R70X | 470 Ω | 98.0 dB/mW | 1.6 mW | +26 dB | Comfortable |
| ZMF Atrium | 300 Ω | 96.0 dB/mW | 2.5 mW | +26 dB | Comfortable |
| Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC | 50 Ω | 88.0 dB/mW | 16 mW | +26 dB | Comfortable |
| Sennheiser HD 600 | 300 Ω | 91.8 dB/mW | 6.6 mW | +22 dB | Comfortable |
| HiFiMAN Susvara | 60 Ω | 83.0 dB | 50 mW | +20 dB | Comfortable |
The manufacturer does not publish an output noise figure for this source, so there is no hiss estimate here. If you have a measured figure, the hiss calculator takes it.
At 0.1Ω output impedance this source satisfies the one-eighth rule with every headphone in the database, down to the 3Ω in-ears. Nothing here will have its frequency response shaped by the source.
| Source | Type | Price | Into 300 Ω | Output impedance | Output noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schiit Magni Heresy | desktop amplifier | $99 | 410 mW | 0.25 Ω | 1.5 µV unverified |
| Schiit Magni Unity | desktop amplifier | $119 | 415 mW | 0.1 Ω | 1.59 µV |
| Topping L30 II | desktop amplifier | $149 | 560 mW | 0.1 Ω | 0.3 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 22 do everything the Gustard H26 does as a headphone output: reach 100 dB on every headphone it reaches and stay inside the one-eighth rule wherever it does. The cheapest of them is the Schiit Magni Heresy at $99, against this one’s $1099 — $1000 less.
This counts the headphone output only; inputs, converters, the volume control and the build are outside it.
$1099 · 580 mW into 32Ω · output Ω not published
Compare →$1160 · 2.0 W into 32Ω · <0.1 Ω out
Compare →$1199 · 1.0 W into 32Ω · 0.13 Ω out
Compare →$1245 · 2.7 W into 32Ω · 0.25 Ω out
Compare →$929 · 12.0 W into 32Ω · output Ω not published
Compare →$799 · 2.0 W into 32Ω · 1 Ω out
Compare →Compared with its closest rivals: vs Aune S17 Pro EVO · vs Schiit Mjolnir 3 · vs Singxer SA-1 · vs Woo Audio WA6.