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I believe I experienced great PRAT for the first time

Pace, Rhythm and Timing - I've often heard about it, mainly in the context of certain turntables, but I don't think I've really experienced it in a highly satisfactory way until today when I mounted my new Soundsmith Hyperion, an upgrade from my Sussorro. Halfway through side two of Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium, it suddenly dawned on me that there was more going on than improvements in clarity, detail, neutrality, bass punch and other rather specific traits that I've until this point used to refer to what I'm hearing. For the first time in the 30 years I've had this album, I was struck by a sense of flow, ease, relaxation, and my feet were tapping! Yes, this must be it. I connected with the music at a higher level just now, something new to me. Get all the details correct, and the PRAT appears in front of you. So, this was nothing to do with the fact that my turntable runs at the correct speed with low W/F, as it was performing well at that before. I had assumed that's what PRAT meant. Perhaps it means that too, in a speed stability sense.

earthtones
lewm
12,556 posts
 

Pesky, in response to your rhetorical question, i dunno. DO Rega turntables produce PRAT, in fact? You suppose they do, but that’s an opinion to which you’re entitled.

cd318
2,636 posts
 

Pace, rhythm and timing are desirable commodities no doubt.

However, in my experience, systems which do them well often fall down heavily in other areas.

This realisation is the reason I moved away from a Linn/Naim system in the first place.

Apparently Naim amps can do far more than PRAT these days but for me tone is king, PRAT are mere accessories.

It's a shame that these 2 qualities often seem to be at almost opposite poles to each other.

earthtones OP
104 posts
 

In my system that I described earlier, I think the Hyperion does everything extremely well, PRAT, tone, whatever. I think it’s a simple matter of superior tracking ability combined with ultra low moving mass and resonance- how do you beat a cactus thorn, lol, in combination with the Ortofon Replicant profile?

Another thing I’ve noticed is that this cartridge scales like nothing I’ve heard - it sounds clean, steady and articulate right up through the highest crescendos in symphonic pieces, which is another testament to it tracking ability and high resolution.

pesky_wabbit's avatar
pesky_wabbit
1,183 posts
 

Pesky, in response to your rhetorical question, i dunno. DO Rega turntables produce PRAT, in fact?

Rega turntables are low mass to limit the storage (and subsequent delayed release) of energy. This design objective is well documented and requires very little research to confirm.

As to Rega’s ability to do PRAT, I suggest you A/B an RP10/Apheta 3 against an LP12 combination at twice the price and make up your own mind.

Don’t take your credit card.

pesky_wabbit's avatar
pesky_wabbit
1,183 posts
 

for me tone is king, PRAT are mere accessories.

opposite, I can live with tonal aberrations, whereas the groove or the flow is the heart and soul of music, and that tiny nuances in this metric are what separate ‘great’ musicians from the also rans..

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