What exactly is PRaT???

I have always fancied, however erroneously, that PRAT was often due to very slightly erratic timing which is why tube amps sometimes can be masters of PRAT perhaps because something in some tubes is faintly "off" timing wise. This in turn might create a sense of naturalness or "live" performance even if the tunes have been very precisely guided in the studio.

Sometimes PRAT can be that ineffable thing called "swing."  SRV nearly always had it in his playing.

The Stones often made Pratty records perhaps because of their catch-as-catch-can recording practices.

The Stones Recording At Muscle Shoals Part1

The Stones Recording At Muscle Shoal Part2

I'm not sure what's so confusing about it.  Audio systems are a combination of mechanical devices that work together to reproduce that elusive thing called music.  There are well-made devices and badly-made devices.  There are devices that work well together and devices that don't.  A Chevy Geo isn't going to give you the same driving experience as a Ferrari.  A speaker with woolly, sluggish bass and misaligned drivers isn't going to convey the speed and accuracy of your drumming very well, is it?  Likewise, an amp with poor transient response is going to fail to do that.  I'm sure you don't need to be told that pace, rhythm and timing are essential qualities in a good musical performance, whether it's a Haydn trio or a Steely Dan song.  I think "PRAT" is just a short-hand way of saying that a certain piece of audio equipment, or a combination of them, conveys those qualities (or the lack of them) effectively.  (AFAIC, not all the system PRAT in the world can make "Jazz at the Pawnshop" sound like an Eddie Condon group.)  I think it's also a shorthand way of saying that a system conveys the emotional qualities of a performance.  A system doesn't have to do EVERYTHING perfectly--any system is going to have limitations of some sort--but if it conveys the essentials it can still provide more enjoyment than a far more expensive and unwieldy system that doesn't.

I've been in this hobby a long time too, and I've heard systems that DON'T convey the joy of music.  And if you've ever spent any time building your own amps, preamps or speakers, it's not difficult to understand how easy it is to get it wrong.

@tunehead Provides the only realistic answer. Dirk and Lerxst approved.

Well, if this thread has taught me anything it’s that this thing called PRaT is pretty indescribable in words and is just a “feel” thing I just apparently don’t — and probably never will — get or care about.  I appreciate all your attempts to educate me, but I still just don’t get it.  Music either sounds real to me or it doesn’t.  Period.  I just can’t relate that to timing, “pace” whatever the hell that is or “rhythm” whatever the hell that is.  I think most famously Art Dudley used to focus on timing and beats, and I never got anything he was talking about and never got much from any of his reviews.  Kind of like Herb Reichert or Sam Tellig — I like reading their prose but never, ever, get anything out of whether I wanna buy a component because they’re just too opaque.  They write just to write for their own sake.  It’s entertaining to read but ultimately not very useful IMHO.  I could be wrong as usual, but what say you?  I think this could be an interesting topic for further discussion. 

Etta James: Miss Pitiful

I find it almost impossible to not become involved move and get excited by this song.  How this differs from PRAT I guess is how the stereo displays it???

How does PRAT differ from "Man that sounds good"?