What is PRaT

Pbb...while I agree that PRaT is very subjective, I don't believe it is fiction. When a large group of people can find agreement on an experience consistently, even if not quantitatively confirmed, it is not fiction.

Ask any person what "quality" or "complexity" is. I've read that even people in primitive cultures can find agreement on these terms, without similar backgrounds. How do quantitatively describe them?

Thus...you're right, but so is everybody else.

My .02

Sorry. In making my comments above, I neglected to sound off on PRaT. I like to think of it in terms of the naturalness of the sound. How "live" and "musical" it comes across.

If you could imagine that music has vowels (air, holography) and consonants (detail, impact), a tendency to accentuate the consonants would translate to a component having better PRaT. As a representation of timing, it can be very deceptive, because as the music opens up it appears to slow down.

No joke, mlauner, Naim has PRaT down VERY well.

All the best,
Howard

Single driver speakers have great prat. Listening to Blind Melon's "Tones of Home" right now and yea, the toes are tapping - with bass response flat only to 80 Hz. Go figure.

I too think of hifi terms with music as a reference. Music is a magical thing. When musicians are listening and playing with each other you'll know it. When they're not in sync, you'll know it. It's unmistakeable. To me, the ability for musicians to gell and play tightly together is PRaT. If a player is constantly early or late, the performance starts falling apart. In music reproduction there are obviously more variables. The musicians first have to get it right before any reproduction system can reproduce it. But great performances are great performances because they get everything right. When it's reproduced in a music system, everything has to be just as spot on at least in terms of rhythm. When it's not, it doesn't feel as "right" and you'll invariably be moved less.