[jebuizyhar]

First post! I have a pair of HE-500's and I've been amping them with a Little Dot MKIII with pretty solid results. Certainly I've never heard a better pair of headphones, though I haven't gotten to audition the classics (HD650 etc). I've already invested a fair amount in tube rolling it and it works well on the front end of my KRK RP6G2's also. The more I read on amping the Hifimans, however, I see that the Little Dot is not given much praise at all given it's high output impedance. Am I really losing that much? 
 
I'm going to be studying abroad in the fall and I've been looking into getting a slightly more portable amp and I'm looking for suggestions. I'm interested both in owning a completely portable amp that I could use with my laptop and a proper desktop amp. 
 
It seems that the cmoy isn't quite strong enough for the hifimans and the fiio e11, while strong enough, doesn't sound very good. 
 
Does anybody have experience with the Alo International or the PanAm? It seems like the only desktop amp anybody recommends is the Schiit Lyr, but I really like the look of the PanAm and I could use my EF95 tubes with it. 
 
Perhaps I'm just being an idiot, feel free to let me know.
 
Thanks

 

[manbear]

Ray Samuels makes some really high power portable amps. Also, the Headroom Pico Power. I haven't heard either though.