What exactly is PRaT???

A please define for me what "imaging" and "3D soundstage" mean.  In relation to what?  And why are they important?

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.

@soix

Well, your own system includes select cables, amp upgrades, and a lot of other refinements, so clearly you’ve spent some time developing a system that plays music the way you want to hear it. I assume you didn’t just close your eyes and grab whatever came to hand. If "PRAT" doesn’t mean anything to you, it doesn’t. For a lot of audiophiles, especially people getting started in the hobby, it can be a helpful measure of where your money is best spent. WhatHiFi is, IMO, one of the more reliable review sites and they devote a fair portion of every review talking about the equipment’s ability convey joy and rhythm, and generally a good musical experience. Nothing wrong with that.

Seriously? What could be more essential to the performing arts than pace, rhythm and timing? And what could be more easily comprehensible? Pace is the speed, rhythm is the repetitive beat, timing is the emphasis. Music, stand-up comedy, the stage, film, writing--success in these crafts is largely defined by these three simple but discrete elements. I happen to think that it’s a rather brilliant bit of linguistic compression that captures in one acronym the success or failure of an audio system to convey the essentials of what makes listening to recorded music enjoyable.

@mashif 

Nicely put. ;-)

@soix

Yes, I've played instruments, though not very well.  But I've been an actor, singer, stage director and audiobook narrator for over 40 years.  I certainly know what pace, rhythm and timing mean.  They're essential to the work I do every day!  I utterly fail to see what it is you want defined.  Surely you've played with musicians who can't keep time, or who don't "swing," or who don't convey any nuance or subtlety in their performances.  There are audio systems that fail in this regard as well.  Whether you've heard them or not I couldn't say.  You seem to be highly resistive to the idea that such a thing could exist.   I have no idea why.  Woolly, sloppy bass in a speaker or amp is simply not going to convey the basic snap of the rhythm properly.  If the midrange is bleached out I'm going to miss some of the subtle timings a singer might inject into a performance.   I can't understand why this is hard to grasp.

@audition__audio And subjectivity is just stupid when it comes to music, right?

Oh, I think we're probably more on the same page than not.  I didn't say I don't *understand* 3D imaging or soundstage.  I asked for definitions.  Those definitions would have to include the word "illusion," which is what they are, illusions.  But they are definitely real phenomena.  By the same token, I believe that certain equipment affects our perception of pace, timing and rhythm in a way that is also an illusion, but is also a genuine phenomenon.

@bolong

There’s a long-standing discussion in the classical world concerning famous conductors who "slowed down" as they aged, some rather drastically, and whether this was related to cardiovascular health. Otto Klemperer was a notable example. In his younger years he adopted brisk tempos and a rather fierce attack, and but in old age his recordings took on a stately (some would say sluggish) and monolithic character.  

@soix 

"Really?  Seriously???  Why are you even here if you don’t get these simple concepts?"

You already asked me that and I answered you.

@richardbrand 

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. ;-)

@richardbrand 

LOL!  I never thought it could be hazardous... ;-)