What exactly is PRaT???

Sorry nothing we have said helps. But as I am sure I have mentioned, it is not easy to hear... took me a long long time. And it has nothing to do with drums or timing at a macro level. It is across the sound field. It is something that I read about and just plain did not perceive for several decades. Then one day I put together different experiences across time and I got it. After that, like some of the more nuanced variables... it is obvious and becomes un-hearable. You are curious... one day... it will probably hit you.., and you’ll go, "OH! that’s it!" Keep at it.

@audiom3 

Thank you for your thoughtful and insightful comment. I am sure it comes from deep knowledge and long study of the nuances of high end sound qualities.

@bryhifi 

Great comments. I never thought of it that way. Good analogy. 
 

I just want to point out again that PRaT is probably the most difficult parameter to sense. I know many folks that do not know how to detect it yet. But with thought and careful listening you probably will eventually. And that is likely to be a real epiphany.

OP,

Just because you don’t get it now, does not mean you will not over time. It took me decades. Then suddenly the lightbulb popped on.

I was in Dallas about twenty years ago. I went to this dealer / home… hobby gone wild. The entire house was completely crammed with high end gear. In the downstairs listening room he had a set of Sound Lab Millennium-1 Electrostatic Loudspeakers. They were powered by a Viva tube amp… 4wpc (?). He said, I know this is ridiculous… but listen to this. It was all midrange and some flabby bass. It brought tears to my eyes… immediately, I have never heard anything so beautiful, emotionally evocative in my life. I was completely shaken and emotionally drained when I left. I really didn’t know what to make of it.

I couldn’t consider buying into that system… nor was he trying necessarily to sell that sound… he was overwhelmed, as was I by the emotional connection. There was no detail… no treble… the bass was absurd. I tucked the experience into my memory.

It wasn’t for another ten years when I had this epiphany that my main system had become sterile and lifeless (a true “Reference” system) that it all came together. Different experiences with certain systems that had varying degrees of PRaT… I got it! One of those lightning bolt experiences. After that, I could detect it nearly instantly and its degree. For me it was the most difficult parameter to “get”, now one of the absolutely most important.

Keep at it. Starting this thread shows your curiosity. There is a long Stereophile article in the 90’s, lots of technical descriptions… did not do a bit of good for me. But trying to sense what that thing is that is making you want to tap your foot is the thing you want to pursue. Not by narrowly focusing, but by the gestalt of the sound.

Good luck.

While, in general, I don’t like McGowen’s PRaTel, he certainly acknowledges its existence in the video. So, I agree with him. What he doesn’t talk about is how to sense it. I think it is about the hardest of the attributes to sense (although once you finally get it, it is easy). He alludes to the symptoms of good PRaT, but not what it sounds like.

It is not like detail. In detail, to sense it you collapse your focus of attention to individual sounds with in the sound field… like the tick of a drumstick or a bowed violin and listen intensely. If you are concentrating on bass, you tend to open up your focus of attention because bass is less directional. PRaT is more a function of a very large part of the sound field. To sense it close your eyes and sense the draw or connection to the rhythm. For me, it all came to me at once when I was listening to a system with great PRaT and memories of auditions of several past systems that had emotionally tugged at me (syrupy tube systems) but were unappealing for other shortcomings. That is when it came together. It is like a gestalt attribute produced across the sound field and the symptoms of it are the foot tap and desire to move (if only in your head).

It can take a long time so sense it. Highly contrasting systems can really help. Audition a solid state Luxman / Magico system then a Conrad Johnson or VAC / Sonus Faber system. The former is virtually devoid of PRaT the latter very rich with it. A Pass / DynAudio system is likely to be in the middle.

Hopefully this is helpful.