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.
Ah, Chris Rea. First heard "The Road to Hell" in a clapped-out army truck descending into the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, with truck wrecks littering the landscape. Later I was MC for a conference and had a copy with me. Played it as attendees drifted in, the morning after the big dinner. A colleague rushed up: "the sound system is broken". All he could hear was raindrops and windscreen wipers. Then the first crescendo hit. Chris really cares about the quality of sound, and all his recordings are studio-made. I heard him live in Melbourne and he was absolutely mortified that he could not get the exact sound he wanted. He never toured the USA |
Herb’s latest and recent reporting on an actively configured vintage horn/tube setup, a rarity (i.e.: active) with this kind of setup, where he goes:
Notice the inclusion of the more layman’s term "boogie-factor" as a variation of PRaT, the latter of which seems to have been described around here as a somewhat over-complicated and esoteric attainment to come by through years of audiophile cultivation and final revelation(?). I can only assume that for those it’s a rare (and late) trait to have experienced, not because it’s the Sasquatch of audio qualities but simply due to setup choices that didn’t bring out the boogie-factor (sorry, PRaT) in a prevalent fashion. Oh, I can imagine seeing PRaT entering what has otherwise been a stale audio serving through years being something of revelation when it adds up to the other qualities that has been meticulously harnessed over time, but making it a matter of an "enlightened progression" over decades is just going off the rails in my book. Maybe to some it’s the other way ’round; they attained PRaT long ago and earlier in their audiophile journey, and only later added the perhaps more conventional audiophile traits of imaging, resolution, airiness, balance of presentation, etc. As is I can definitely attest to the importance of boogie-factor/PRaT as a vital sonic ingredient, on top of many other things. |
Classical music most certainly benefits from a system with PRaT. In that case, I call it the "air-conducting factor." ;-) Just the other day I listened to a marvelous stereo broadcast of Pierre Monteux and the Boston Symphony performing Strauss's "Don Juan" at Tanglewood. If that performance doesn't get you out of your chair and waving your arms, nothing will.;-) So much joyful swing in the rhythms and phrasing! I want to hear Furtwangler pounce on Brahms, or Rosenthal turn Debussy into a dance date, or Klemperer hammer away at Beethoven, just as much as I want to hear Basie bounce or Goodman swing. ;-) |
