I don’t always feel it but when I do, I REALLY do. And it’s impossible to sit still.
It’s the drug that keeps me coming back.
I haven’t listened to a broad range of manufacturers, but I’ve heard a few and none come close to Naim imo.
The downside is I now struggle to listen to music in my car, on my airpods when out running etc. Music without PRAT just doesn’t do it for me. I’ve been spoilt.
I know what you mean. I was listening to music last night and thinking the same thing.
Oh yes - i have a Hard time at work currently and therefore it gets harder to cool down and dive into the music. But when this happens … prat is the leading light into the music 
Last track to hit me with it was Def Leppard - Animal. Soon followed by Hysteria. Wonderful stuff.
I can’t really describe it to myself or others, but that intangible something in the way a naim system pressurizes and pulses the listening environment is so, so sweet.
As opposed to the reaction …
You paid how much? You’re definitely a prat!
Excellent PR&T = a requirement for good sound, music.
There is plenty of good Hi-Fi…it is not something exclusive to Naim. For balance, neither is the ability to ‘play tunes’.
I have spent more hours/days/weeks reading about HiFi and listening to music than I would admit to.
I have never really understood what Pr&T is. It is almost the most used acronym in Hi Fi speak.
Am I on the right track?:
Pace: Is it the right speed?
Rhythm: Can you easily follow the rhythm of the music? Some music is not rhythmic?
Timing: Is the speed constant? Are the musicians not playing in time with each other? Unlikely!!
When I see the term I tend to roll my eyes.
A Bentley will sort that problem - simples!
Me too.
For balance, same for ‘plays tunes’.
Unfortunately it’s not a given that people understand or are receptive to “prat”
And that is not a criticism, hence why many folk are quite happy with Alexa music , car stereo music Blutooth speakers etc .
Naim equipment does it very well , other marques sometimes not so well .
I do not accept that PR&T sceptics do not understand the concept. PR&T is simply an essential component in well reproduced music. We all strive for well reproduced music. I simply do not accept that any one brand’s well reproduced music majors on PR&T.
I never say ‘wow, listen to that tune, listen to that PR&T’. I do say ‘wow, that’s great music’.
PRAT = excitement, thrill
Other brands I’ve heard sound technically excellent, but don’t get the juices flowing in the same way
I’m a bit disappointed, seeing the title I thought it was a thread about me :-/
Whilst I know good sounding music when I hear it, the term PRaT always has an artificial ring to me - but I am another who does not really know what asoects of the music it is seeking to describe.
Never understood this myself - doesn’t make sense to be right speed, as you can have two recordings of the same piece of music played at different speeds. Perhaps means is the speed constant? Of course, played by humans it might not be ss recorded - and some music may deliberately gradually increase or decrease speed. With analogue sources the associated pitch variation would give rise to ‘wow’ if short timeframe, but longer timeframe would be noticeable as gradual ‘sharpening’ or ‘flattening’ of notes. However that only applies to sources - what about amps?
I take this to be the system in some way emphasising the rhythm, making it more prominent (though indeed some music is not obviously rhythmic, and other music would be spoilt by teasing out the rhythm like that). Could perhaps be done by emphasising frequency band where the some percussion lies, perhaps snare and kick drum. Also mag occur with speakers that have ‘colouration’ with the same effect. This is the area about which I am suspicious when anyone says the system makes music more exciting.
This is the only one I am more certain I understand: think this is to do with minimising ‘bluring’ of sounds, notably an amp having a very fast ‘rise time’, and equally across the frequency spectrum, so that a percussive sound, whether snare drum or stringed instrument plucked with a hard plectrum or hit with a hammer reaches maximum loudness as quickly as it does live, not taking a fraction of a second longer and so sounding ‘softened’.
Timing is about phase coherence I believe, without tight timing across the audio band the frequencies will smear… this will rob detail and vitality of the sound and make it sound less lifelike. I think this attribute has much to do with speakers, room as amp design. Good timing will allow complex music and highly compressed music to sound distinct, and lyrics sound so much more legible.
To be honest I have heard some very high end Naim systems with shockingly poor timing… and equally some non Naim systems exquisitely good here… so there are many contributions to this… I don’t think it is a uniquely Naim thing by any stretch, but many Naim amps can help you achieve it.
However I think the timing is the most important attribute, get that right and the ‘pace’ and ‘rhythm’ naturally follow, but will be dependent on the media programme. Timing is a universal consideration as I believe it is fundamental to how we decode sound in our brains.
Poor timing after a while tends to give me head aches… even though can sound initially impressive. Perhaps my brain is having to work too hard to listen into the music the way I do.
I have huge respect for those who understand the science of sound so much better than I do.
But for me PRAT is an emotional response. It can’t be measured, it can’t be quantified, it’s a feeling.
It blocks everything else out but the sound, and it connects me. And I only disconnect when the track finishes.
PRaT, to me, is what make music sounds “live” instead of re-produced. It connects the listener to the artist. It becomes a shared, emotional experience versus a passive experience.
Same here - can not be measured… it hits me emotionally… than it’s prat for me.