What exactly is PRaT???


Ok, it’s like this thing and is associated with “toe tapping” and such.  I confess, I don’t get it.  Apparently companies like Linn and Naim get it, and I don’t and find it a bit frustrating.  What am I missing?  I’m a drummer and am as sensitive as anyone to timing and beats, so why don’t I perceive this PRaT thing that many of you obviously do and prize as it occurs in stereo systems?  When I read many Brit reviews a lot of attention goes to “rhythm” and “timing” and it’s useless to me and I just don’t get it.  If someone can give me a concrete example of what the hell I’m not getting I’d sincerely be most appreciative.  To be clear, enough people I greatly respect consider it a thing so objectively speaking it’s either something I can’t hear or maybe just don’t care about — or both.  Can someone finally define this “thing” for me cause I seriously wanna learn something I clearly don’t know or understand.  

soix
 
 

Some songs have it and some do not. Some stereos can reproduce it and some can not.

I just happened to put together a system recently that beats you over the head with prat. Wish you could hear it. It blows my mind what this system can do and I feel a little smug y’all missing out. It is a completely different way to experience music. Not detail, not soundstaging, not tonality, not bass. It’s a pulsation going through the whole song /band top to bottom.

Technically YG talks about phase coherence through the x-over. It is not the same thing as a 1st order x-over. I found a 4" driver with long throw Xmax timing was off vs a normal Xmax 4" driver.

 

By optimizing the amplitude, phase and phase slope, the drive units are phase coherent over a huge range—for an octave or more around the crossover point. Across this wide range frequency, each driver is moving in exact synchronization with its neighboring drive unit. To your ear it seems like there is just a single source of sound.

It is difficult to overstate what a revolution this is. To our knowledge, no-one else has been able to achieve this level of coherence. The degree of scientific and engineering knowledge, the precision of measurement and the cost of running the simulations required place it outside the typical capabilities of manufacturers in our industry.

 

These have it on my system:

CHAI - sayonara complex - LIVE at STUDIO COAST (The CD studio version does not)

Paul McCartney, Khruangbin - Pretty Boys (Visualizer)

Gaslighting Abbie

Robert Harley’s book Complete Guide to High end audio page 56 Prat means Pace Rhythm and Timing.according to Harley How do you listen to pace and rhythm? Forget about it. And if you find yourself wanting to dance the component probably has it.

The book also mentioned Rhythm and pace are more important in rock , jazz, blues , pop , and other form of music than in classical.