[John Casler]

I have been reading a lot about PRAT recently and am curious as to what it really is and who really beleives it exists.

As far as I know it stands for:

PACE
RHYTHM
and
TIMING

My confusion arrises when this term is applied to speaker qualities and a specific effect it has on music, since a speaker (AFAIK) can have absolutley no effect on any these elements, I find these references confuisng.

PACE = speed of movement: the particular speed at which somebody or something moves, especially when walking or running

RHYTHM = music, pattern of beats in music: the regular pattern of beats and emphasis in a piece of music

TIMING = judgment of when to act: the ability to choose or the choice of the best moment to do or say something, for example, in performing music or comedy or in sports

Pace:  While speakers certainly could be said to have movement (particularly the drivers) they, and the drivers are "slaves" to the electronically predetermined pace and have no ability to effect this quality

Rhythm: The pattern of beat too cannot be affected by even a slow responding woofer since it will have to respond to the electronic signal too.

Timing: This one falls into the same line of reasoning

So have all these words been assigned new meanings to audiophiles  or is this just a new acronym to throw around?

Am I missing something here?

[_scotty_]

In my experience I find systems as a whole more real sounding when the system more accurately tracks the rise and fall time of the music waveform.
PRAT is an attempt to describe this ability. Considering that the loudspeaker
is the slowest and most inaccurate part of the system  explains why people sometimes see only the speaker as affecting PRAT. Reality happens in the blink of an eye. Our stereo systems are still too slow and inaccurate to reproduce reality. As we move closer to this goal we are moving away from a kinder and gentler reproduction with its colorations and into an undiscovered
country which many will probably not care for. Reality is not warm and fuzzy
 in this context and certainly not familiar territory for most practioners of this hobby. I hope a closer approach to reality in music reproduction in our homes is still a part of the industries long term goal.  I have my doubts about
this sometimes.  My understanding of PRAT for what its worth.

                                                            Scotty

[ooheadsoo]

Some older folks from some northern island off the coast of europe claim that it used to stand for pace rythm attack timing but we americans butchered it, of course.  As far as I can tell, all 4 terms get pretty much rolled up into one.  What scotty said rings true about what they're trying to talk about.  Supposedly the term is pretty old, several decades at least.

[nathanm]

Such a description might apply to cassette decks and vinyl playback which may be subject to speed variations, but other than that I think PRAT is a rather silly and innacurate expression.  But like any invented, subjective description for sound quality, it might make sense to one person and not another. To me PRAT is probably best applied to a song, or a drum performance, not really a stereo.

[Gregp]

I completly agree with Scott.  

For my personal prefereces and taste in what a good system can provide I have found that this has a huge affect on how involved I am in the music.  Suprisingly my, Antique Sound Lab 1003 really showed me about what an importance good PRAT does to the music, and it is a tube amp! Goes to show you cant rely on the old stigmas of solid state vs. tube.  In my opinion, I dont think its about the speakers, but about the amp, and electronics.

[bundee1]

I dont know, I think the term is very applicable. I know Ive heard some slow sounding components. Some components seem to make you want to dance while others just make you go "huh?".

For example I was listening to Funkadelic's One Nation Under A Groove. It has a ton of instruments layered over the bass and drums. When I listened with a pair of SR Alphas between cd and pre and a pair of monster jrs between pre and amp, the instruments boogied but the bass went kathunk kathunk. It was like a car rolling on square wheels. When I switched all my I.C.s to Pulsars the music seemed to roll along at the same pace.

[John Casler]

OK, I think I have it, although I think that many then use the term incorrectly.

From what I'm hearing here, PRAT is the dynamic reaction ability of a component or system, and not the affect it has on the musical composition, but the sound.

That is starting to make more sense.

It was difficult to see how a component could affect the Pace, Rythm, or Timing of the music, but I can definately see how it can affect the production of specific sonic elements, by having better time related, reactive qualities.

Thanks All.

[mcrespo71]

Here is a good article describing PRAT from Martin Colloms:

http://www.stereophile.com//reference/23/index.html

[audioengr]

Seems like a good description for a musical piece, not sound quality.  Pretty non-definitive in my book.  I think if the sound makes you want to dance or tap your foot, this is PRAT. It is an emotional reaction, not an objective measure IMO.

[BobM]

Yes, good PRAT makes you tap your foot and/or get into the music more emotionally. However, I find that this is not wholly possible unless:

(1) a system has a good amount of quickness and speed - meaning the leading edge transient speed of the system is decent to good at resolving the notes. Like the pluck of a guitar string or the dynamic thwack of a drum.
(2) which leads me to that dynamic thwack - without variation in dynamics all will sound flat, no matter how resolving or quick the system is. Sometimes part of the problem with planar speakers, but not always.
(3) then there's the trailing decay of the notes. If they cut off too quickly, in a hi fi sense, then it just doesn't sound natural. Part of the charm of good analogue and the pain of bad digital.

If 1 and 2 are present then I feel there is good PRAT and I can get into the music, even if it is a bit sterile. If all 3 are present then there is real emotional and sonic magic, as long as things don't go too far into that hi-fi, antiseptic, sterile area (which sometimes can be corrected with a little application of tubes).

Enjoy,
Bob