B-21 Raider

[jawicedman]

I'm a new member, but I can echo the statements made by the other guys here. The B21 is built like a tank; comprehensively purposeful and utilitarian design geared toward powering the most demanding transducers. I have been spending the last few days listening to the Caldera open and it has been a pleasure. It seems to bring out the best in that set and all without breaking a sweat. I couldn't recommend this amplifier any higher on its own merits, but when you consider how approachable Ray is and how he makes himself available to support the customer; it becomes no brainer if you're in the market.

 

[Audio Addict]

For new owners, here is a Qobuz playlist to try with the B-21.
Listen to the playlist 50 Tracks to Test Your Headphones by Qobuz on Qobuz https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24440101

Head-Fi isn't letting me create a post for some reason and tells me to edit so I am posting here:

ADDED: 1/29/2025
I learned the Abyss people will be doing a video of their thoughts on the B-21 Raider before Can Jam New York. They are including the B-21 in their room at the show too. Further, Herb Reichart from Stereophile is supposed to stop in the Abyss room and listen to the B-21 at New York and possibly may want to review it.

The Absolute Sound's Tom Martin will also be doing a video review of the B-21 for their You Tube channel.

It will be interesting to get the additional reactions to the B-21 Raider.

 

[SolarCetacean]

I heard the B-21 that was in the Abyss room with two electrostatic headphones: the Stax SR-X9000 and the Hifiman Shangri-La Sr. The latter headphone I only had about 2 minutes of listening time with unfortunately. I did not listen to any regular headphones on it (the Abyss AB1266TC was the intended pairing, the estats were brought there briefly at request). The DAC was the dCS Lina on its own (no clock).

The main impression I got from the B-21 in my demoes was that it had good bass. The bass on the X9000 was more prominent; it sounded bassier than it did on other amps that I heard it on. I couldn't really tell any differences in nuance vs something like the BHSE since I couldn't compare them back-to-back and it was in show conditions. I thought it was noticeably bassier than BHSE, but I couldn't say if it hit harder or anything like that.

On my 2 minutes of listening with the SGL Sr, the bass was also a notable quality. Earlier, I had heard the SGL on Hifiman's amp and it sounded horribly thin and shrill, while on the B-21 it was significantly bassier and richer. Not as shrill and harsh. The B-21 was far better than that $32K Hifiman amp. Several other people were also demoing the SGL on the B-21 because none of them cared for Hifiman's amp lol.

 

[number1sixerfan]

I heard the B-21 that was in the Abyss room with two electrostatic headphones: the Stax SR-X9000 and the Hifiman Shangri-La Sr. The latter headphone I only had about 2 minutes of listening time with unfortunately. I did not listen to any regular headphones on it (the Abyss AB1266TC was the intended pairing, the estats were brought there briefly at request). The DAC was the dCS Lina on its own (no clock).

The main impression I got from the B-21 in my demoes was that it had good bass. The bass on the X9000 was more prominent; it sounded bassier than it did on other amps that I heard it on. I couldn't really tell any differences in nuance vs something like the BHSE since I couldn't compare them back-to-back and it was in show conditions. I thought it was noticeably bassier than BHSE, but I couldn't say if it hit harder or anything like that.

On my 2 minutes of listening with the SGL Sr, the bass was also a notable quality. Earlier, I had heard the SGL on Hifiman's amp and it sounded horribly thin and shrill, while on the B-21 it was significantly bassier and richer. Not as shrill and harsh. The B-21 was far better than that $32K Hifiman amp. Several other people were also demoing the SGL on the B-21 because none of them cared for Hifiman's amp lol.

Show/meet conditions are so tough, but they can give a general directional read of what you're hearing. Having had the B-21 in home for a week or so, can concur.. it does bass really well for stats. It also has a really wonderful transparency without offense/brightness. I really enjoyed it. If I could swing it, I think it would be a good complement for my stats with the T2, with a totally different, but really enjoyable sound.

And I would comment on the hifiman amp but I don't want to keep belaboring the point about the premium you have to pay for lesser performing amps directly from headphone manufacturers. I'll just say I definitely wouldn't have the Shang Sr. if you had to buy the amp along with it. Really wish the HE-1 was offered separately as well.

 

[Audio Addict]

It would be cool if could get a meet for just the electrostatic amplifiers in Chicago or the suburbs somewhere.

 

[number1sixerfan]

It would be cool if could get a meet for just the electrostatic amplifiers in Chicago or the suburbs somewhere.

I don't have the space to host, but with enough time in advance I'd certainly be down. And can bring headphones (including the Shang, HE90, R10 and Immanis) and even the T2.

 

[musicman59]

I am late writing my review and opinions on the new RSA B21 Rider. So I apologize for that but better late than never

First a little bit of history. I am been an audiophile for over 40 years and into Headfi and a member for almost 21 years.
I knew about Ray Samuels because of his great portable units and around 10-12 years ago I had the opportunity to meet him at a Detroit’s metro area headphones meet. He graciously came to visit us and share some of his equipment. He brought with him a huge Boulder CD player, his A-10 Thunderbolt Tube Electrostatic Headphones amplifier/preamp, the Stax SR-009 and the Sennheiser HD-90 Headphones.
When I listened to the A-10/SR-009 for the first time was when I fell in love with the electrostatic headphones sound. A few months later I saw Ray again at CanJam Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (boy I miss that show so much! ) and we start establishing a relationship/friendship. At that show I had the opportunity to listen to the SR-009 again but now with an amplifier for a different manufacturer. I don’t know if the tubes complement used was not the right match for the SR-009 but the magic that I remember hearing with the A-10 Thunderbolt was not there. That made me really put my sights on the A-10/SR-009 combo and now the issue was “only” budget relieved:).

Not long after that I got my first RSA desktop amplifier, the great Apache. A great sounding piece with the typical RSA house sound of transparency, dynamics, control and musicality. Since I bought the original HiFiMan HE-6 as soon as they came out I was looking for the best headphones amplifier for them and that’s when Ray came out with the powerful Dark Star and having the great experience with the Apache I immediately place an order for mine. Wow! What a powerful amp with the same RSA house sound that really made the HE-6 sing.

I still had the bug for the electrostatic sound but could not afford the A-10/SR-009 combo at that moment so I settled for the Stax SRM-727 MkII and the SR-009. It was not bad but not the samequality of sound as the A-10 Thunderbolt. I even setup the SRM-727 MkII with a fix volume output and use a McIntosh preamplifier to drive it which resulted in a better sound but still not at the level of the A-10 Thunderbolt.

After some time I was able to finally upgrade to the A-10 Thunderbolt and voila! The magic I remember from my first interaction with electrostatics was there!

Aside from the great house sound that meet my taste perfectly I love that Ray’s products are built like tanks to last forever and he is so proud of them that he backs up his work with a life time warranty. If something happens to a unit or if there is upgrades to it you just have to pay for shipping both ways and there is no other charges. I want to know what other company that does that!

I lived with the A-10 Thunderbolt for a few years and went through all the upgrades Ray came out for it. Then one day my good friend Audio Addict contacted me to let me know that Ray was coming back from his semi-retirement to bring to life one of his most ambitious projects, a high-power solid-state amplifier with dual purpose capable to power the most demanding electrostatic headphones as well as Dynamic/Planar Magnetic headphones. I immediately told him I was very interested and contacted Ray to start getting more information.

Last year after the Axpona show Ray invited me to come over his home to listen to the B21 Raider prototype. I brought with me my Stax X9000 and my HiFiMan Susvara. Ray had his Abyss 1266, the Sony R10 and Sennheise HD-600. The B-21 Raider made all of them sing great. I was especially impressed on the bass coming out of the Stax X9000. The sound was more authoritative and detailed compared to the A-10 Thunderbolt. The Abyss 1266 sounded incredible unfortunately in cannot get over their physical aspect. To me they look like and “old medieval head torturing machine” … but sound amazing out of the B-21.

Since I already had on order a great tube amplifier (Auris Audio Headonia 300B) for my Dynamic/Planar Magnetic collection the B-21 was perfect to add a Solid State powerful amplifier for them and at the same time a great electrostatic headphones amplifier.

So I confirmed my order to Ray on the spot and made a special request, I wanted my amplifier all Black. He immediately said it was not a problem to accommodate my request.

Couple of months later the B-21 arrived to my house inside this huger flight case protecting it perfectly. In addition to the flight case Ray also includes a rather hefty AC power cord with the unit.

As I was taking it out of the case I had to stop to appreciate the build quality and craftsmanship on the unit, typical RSA quality! Just amazing! By the way my unit is serial number “B21-002”.
The unit comes with Gold spikes but I replaced them with Black Viablue spike that match perfectly my “Black Beauty” .

I setup it up on my headphones audio rack and connected it in Balanced mode to the output of my Bricasti M1S2 DAC. When I started listening with my X9000 even just out of the case I was in heaven. Every single headphone from my collection just sounded incredible regardless of being electrostatic, planar magnetic or dynamic. I have to mention that even the old school HD600 “original” and the new HD660S2 at their relatively inexpensive price in comparison to other, scale up dramatically well.

At its price the B21 Rider is not cheap but taking in consideration that you actually get two independent amplifiers (totally separate amplification section for electrostatic and dynamic/planar magnetic headphones) capable to drive any headphones you throw at it with the quality of sound from the RSA house and a life time warranty is clearly one to consider by Headfiers that want the best of the two world in one single unit.

To me worth every penny!

 

[goldwerger]

I am late writing my review and opinions on the new RSA B21 Rider. So I apologize for that but better late than never

First a little bit of history. I am been an audiophile for over 40 years and into Headfi and a member for almost 21 years.
I knew about Ray Samuels because of his great portable units and around 10-12 years ago I had the opportunity to meet him at a Detroit’s metro area headphones meet. He graciously came to visit us and share some of his equipment. He brought with him a huge Boulder CD player, his A-10 Thunderbolt Tube Electrostatic Headphones amplifier/preamp, the Stax SR-009 and the Sennheiser HD-90 Headphones.
When I listened to the A-10/SR-009 for the first time was when I fell in love with the electrostatic headphones sound. A few months later I saw Ray again at CanJam Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (boy I miss that show so much! ) and we start establishing a relationship/friendship. At that show I had the opportunity to listen to the SR-009 again but now with an amplifier for a different manufacturer. I don’t know if the tubes complement used was not the right match for the SR-009 but the magic that I remember hearing with the A-10 Thunderbolt was not there. That made me really put my sights on the A-10/SR-009 combo and now the issue was “only” budget relieved:).

Not long after that I got my first RSA desktop amplifier, the great Apache. A great sounding piece with the typical RSA house sound of transparency, dynamics, control and musicality. Since I bought the original HiFiMan HE-6 as soon as they came out I was looking for the best headphones amplifier for them and that’s when Ray came out with the powerful Dark Star and having the great experience with the Apache I immediately place an order for mine. Wow! What a powerful amp with the same RSA house sound that really made the HE-6 sing.

I still had the bug for the electrostatic sound but could not afford the A-10/SR-009 combo at that moment so I settled for the Stax SRM-727 MkII and the SR-009. It was not bad but not the samequality of sound as the A-10 Thunderbolt. I even setup the SRM-727 MkII with a fix volume output and use a McIntosh preamplifier to drive it which resulted in a better sound but still not at the level of the A-10 Thunderbolt.

After some time I was able to finally upgrade to the A-10 Thunderbolt and voila! The magic I remember from my first interaction with electrostatics was there!

Aside from the great house sound that meet my taste perfectly I love that Ray’s products are built like tanks to last forever and he is so proud of them that he backs up his work with a life time warranty. If something happens to a unit or if there is upgrades to it you just have to pay for shipping both ways and there is no other charges. I want to know what other company that does that!

I lived with the A-10 Thunderbolt for a few years and went through all the upgrades Ray came out for it. Then one day my good friend Audio Addict contacted me to let me know that Ray was coming back from his semi-retirement to bring to life one of his most ambitious projects, a high-power solid-state amplifier with dual purpose capable to power the most demanding electrostatic headphones as well as Dynamic/Planar Magnetic headphones. I immediately told him I was very interested and contacted Ray to start getting more information.

Last year after the Axpona show Ray invited me to come over his home to listen to the B21 Raider prototype. I brought with me my Stax X9000 and my HiFiMan Susvara. Ray had his Abyss 1266, the Sony R10 and Sennheise HD-600. The B-21 Raider made all of them sing great. I was especially impressed on the bass coming out of the Stax X9000. The sound was more authoritative and detailed compared to the A-10 Thunderbolt. The Abyss 1266 sounded incredible unfortunately in cannot get over their physical aspect. To me they look like and “old medieval head torturing machine” … but sound amazing out of the B-21.

Since I already had on order a great tube amplifier (Auris Audio Headonia 300B) for my Dynamic/Planar Magnetic collection the B-21 was perfect to add a Solid State powerful amplifier for them and at the same time a great electrostatic headphones amplifier.

So I confirmed my order to Ray on the spot and made a special request, I wanted my amplifier all Black. He immediately said it was not a problem to accommodate my request.

Couple of months later the B-21 arrived to my house inside this huger flight case protecting it perfectly. In addition to the flight case Ray also includes a rather hefty AC power cord with the unit.

As I was taking it out of the case I had to stop to appreciate the build quality and craftsmanship on the unit, typical RSA quality! Just amazing! By the way my unit is serial number “B21-002”.
The unit comes with Gold spikes but I replaced them with Black Viablue spike that match perfectly my “Black Beauty” .

I setup it up on my headphones audio rack and connected it in Balanced mode to the output of my Bricasti M1S2 DAC. When I started listening with my X9000 even just out of the case I was in heaven. Every single headphone from my collection just sounded incredible regardless of being electrostatic, planar magnetic or dynamic. I have to mention that even the old school HD600 “original” and the new HD660S2 at their relatively inexpensive price in comparison to other, scale up dramatically well.

At its price the B21 Rider is not cheap but taking in consideration that you actually get two independent amplifiers (totally separate amplification section for electrostatic and dynamic/planar magnetic headphones) capable to drive any headphones you throw at it with the quality of sound from the RSA house and a life time warranty is clearly one to consider by Headfiers that want the best of the two world in one single unit.

To me worth every penny!

I love that all-black look! (but, coincidentally, the black/red likely would have matched perfect with your 300b next to it?)

This is a fantastic amp. If I were in the market for a new SS estat and/or planar/dynamic amp, I’d get it in a heartbeat.

If I were to customize anything, it would be to replace the 3-pin XLR outs with a 1/4” as my R10 is the OG single-end cabled

I had it for an extended home demo with the Bricasti M3 - that synergy is just superb. Enjoy!!

 

[Audio Addict]

I love that all-black look! (but, coincidentally, the black/red likely would have matched perfect with your 300b next to it?)

This is a fantastic amp. If I were in the market for a new SS estat and/or planar/dynamic amp, I’d get it in a heartbeat.

If I were to customize anything, it would be to replace the 3-pin XLR outs with a 1/4” as my R10 is the OG single-end cabled

I had it for an extended home demo with the Bricasti M3 - that synergy is just superb. Enjoy!!

All you need is this. It works perfectly.

 

[goldwerger]

All you need is this. It works perfectly.

That’s a decent compromise. But I know one can plug balance into single ended, but thought plugging SE into balanced isn’t safe; unless one sums the balanced signals and converts it to single ended?

 

[Audio Addict]

That’s a decent compromise. But I know one can plug balance into single ended, but thought plugging SE into balanced isn’t safe; unless one sums the balanced signals and converts it to single ended?

It needs to be built correctly. Chinese built won't work. You need all 6 wires out to be terminated into the single ended female. Ray built this one for me to prove it works. He can give you the configuration of the wires.

 

[goldwerger]

It needs to be built correctly. Chinese built won't work. You need all 6 wires out to be terminated into the single ended female. Ray built this one for me to prove it works. He can give you the configuration of the wires.

Ok that’s very interesting and good to know. Thanks!

 

[Audio Addict]

The video below was released by Abyss on their experience with the B-21 before and after CanJam NYC.

 

[icnaiwhimor1975]

Has anyone tried to see what's inside?
interesting new box..

 

[Audio Addict]

Has anyone tried to see what's inside?
interesting new box..

There are inside shots on the Goldwerger review.

Item 'Ray Samuels Audio B-21 Raider' https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ray-samuels-audio-b-21-raider.27324/