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Is PRat a real factor?

kristoffer

kristoffer

Danish Hi Fi NERD
I often see reviews that mention that an amp has good Pace, Rythm or Timing, but is that really a factor?
Somebody explain the term for me, please. If the music is being reproduced truthfully and accurate surely you don't want any rythm or timing added to it?

Does PRat have something to do with how "musical" sounding an amp is? :confused:
 
Some systems are more capable of capturing faithfully the pace, rhythm and timing of a recording better than others. Some systems smear transients and/or sound undynamic.

A certain pair of small active speakers have allegedly been designed to allow the power supply in the amps to sag in order that the speaker drive units don't hit their end stops. A better solution would be stiffer power supplies and bigger drive units in bigger cabinets.
 
An unnecessary acronym describing a purely subjective experience to help sell poorly designed equipment.
 
maxflinn said:
Hi. No. PRaT is a buzzword used to sell electronics.
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No it isn't - it's used to describe an aspect of speaker performance too (and most other bits of hi-fi).

Equipment with bass overhang, for example, will give the impression of poor PRaT.

kristoffer said:
If the music is being reproduced truthfully and accurate surely you don't want any rythm or timing added to it?
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Except no speaker does reproduce the music 'truthfully', they all add colouration and distortion, despite what their marketing may claim.

kristoffer said:
Does PRat have something to do with how "musical" sounding an amp is? :confused:
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No, I wouldn't say so. 'musical' is another, even more vague, term used to describe an aspect of equipment performance. In general it seems to be used when people just want to say item A is better than B but don't want to, or can't, describe why - they just say it is more 'musical'!
 
PRAT moves mysteriously between different types of equpiment. When originally coined, the term applied only to equipment made by Linn and Naim. Now it has deserted these brands to some extent, and migrated to esoteric valve amplifiers and Tannoy loudpeakers, previously viewed as PRAT-free items.
 
Joe Hutch said:
PRAT moves mysteriously between different types of equpiment. When originally coined, the term applied only to equipment made by Linn and Naim. Now it has deserted these brands to some extent, and migrated to esoteric valve amplifiers and Tannoy loudpeakers, previously viewed as PRAT-free items.
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yes, that's true - I've also seen it used by manufacturers of gear that would never previously have been associated with it.
 
Group delay, stored energy, Q factor, impulse response - a speaker can measure well in terms of harmonic distortion, directivity etc but still have poor performance in these areas.

So I think there are actual technical things that might map to "PRaT" although I don't like this term itself!
 
darrenyeats said:
So I think there are actual technical things that might map to "PRaT"!
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Yeah, good PRaT is a just result of many technicalities done right. It's just easier for most people to listen to, say, rhythm reproduction capabilities of a system, rather than the amount of group delay or q factor.
 
Put a rear ported speaker near the wall and bass gets bloated and PRaT is poor. Pull it away and PRaT is improved. I am sure there a many such examples. Nothing to do with electronics (unless they are deliberately nobbled).

Horrible terminology trying to formalise a simple concept. Scientology for audiophiles.
 
PRaT might be present in a recording but has nothing to do with electronics. Speakers? Well I guess you could use it, but then you can use uniformed too, intuitive etc.

It's just a very successful marketing term. No more.
 
Re. 'toe-tapping' - I've only actually attended one demo where the dealer did this (even danced along, weirdly out of time) - they weren't (aren't) a Linn or Naim dealer either...
 
YNWOAN said:
I've only actually attended one demo where the dealer did this (even danced along, weirdly out of time) - they weren't (aren't) a Linn or Naim dealer either...
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And, to be fair, the Linn/Naim dealer I used to visit in London didn't go in for toe-tapping either; the dealer just left me to listen to music for as long as I wanted to (the first thing I did was to lower the volume from 'ear-splitting' to 'quite loud').
 
I actually think PRAT in hifi derives from the curtailment of resolution , in that notes that should die off slowly are truncated and thus the illusion of harder hitting faster music is maintained.. kinda like less echo in a room...
 
Whatever it may or may not mean, the discerning audiophile is going to want his new HiFi to have it.

So what better place to look than a Naim dealer?

It's clever brand marketing.
 
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