The Simgot EA500 is 16Ω at 123.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the Simgot EA500LM is 21Ω at 106.2 dB/mW. This page is only about what they ask of an amplifier — not how they sound, which no specification on either sheet can tell you.
The EA500LM needs 16.8 dB more than the EA500 to reach the same loudness — 0.24 mW against 0.01 mW.
| Specification | EA500 | EA500LM |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 16 Ω | 21 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 123.0 dB | 106.2 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 141.0 dB/V | 123.0 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 0.01 mW | 0.24 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 9 mV | 71 mV |
| Current for 100 dB | 0.6 mA | 3.4 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 2.00 Ω | 2.62 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 280 | 280 |
One caution before reading the rows. Simgot EA500 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.
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.
74 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the EA500LM but cross it with the EA500 (JadeAudio JA11, Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, FiiO KA11, 71 more).
280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both. That count is about power only — the output-impedance and hiss lines above are separate questions, and a source can pass this one and fail those.
The gap between these two in decibels does not change with volume — it is a property of the two headphones. What changes is the size of the numbers, and it changes fast: every 10 dB costs ten times the power. The row that matters is the one nearest the level you listen at, and for most people that is nearer the top of this table than the bottom.
The EA500LM is more demanding than 22% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the EA500 than 0%. Both figures use the same measure as the rest of the site: whichever runs out first against a 2 V, 100 mW dongle, voltage or power.
| dB SPL | EA500 power | EA500 voltage | EA500LM power | EA500LM voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0.1 µW | 1 mV | 2.4 µW | 7 mV |
| 85 | 0.2 µW | 2 mV | 7.6 µW | 13 mV |
| 90 | 0.5 µW | 3 mV | 0.02 mW | 22 mV |
| 95 | 1.6 µW | 5 mV | 0.08 mW | 40 mV |
| 100 | 5.0 µW | 9 mV | 0.24 mW | 71 mV |
| 105 | 0.02 mW | 16 mV | 0.76 mW | 0.13 V |
105 dB is included because forum power figures are usually quoted there or higher. It is also a level that damages hearing in minutes — how many minutes is its own calculator.
| Source | Price | Headroom, EA500 | Headroom, EA500LM | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topping L30 II | $149 | 58.4 dB | 41.1 dB | 0.1 Ω | 0.3 µV |
| Topping A30 Pro | $249 | 60.8 dB | 43.7 dB | 0.1 Ω | 0.3 µV |
| Topping A90 | $499 | 53.0 dB | 37.4 dB | 0.1 Ω | 0.2 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. That is the easy axis. 5 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 rest either fail one of those or never printed the number at all, and 208 of them are in the second group.
The cheapest of the 5 is the Topping L30 II, at $149. It leaves 58.4 dB of headroom on the EA500 and 41.1 dB on the EA500LM, its output impedance is 0.1 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 2.00 Ω and 2.62 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 9 dB and 27 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.
Cheapest that satisfies three published numbers is not the same as best, and none of it is about how either headphone sounds. To put either model against a source this page does not mention, or to change the target loudness, use the amplifier matcher.
Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: Simgot EA500 and Simgot EA500LM. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Simgot never published — what that maker publishes, counted.