Quote Originally Posted by RGA
"The Peter Aczel who sucked in a lot of subscribers and then disappeared for awhile.
The Fourier speaker fiasco. He liked the NAD 3020 and original Quads,at one time was a believer. You better watch out who you put your trust in because if you have any of his original reviews he was one of the first to rave about Exotic speaker cables such as Fulton Gold and Brown and being able to hear the benefits of better cable. Now who are you going to believe?"

"I hesitated in bringing up the Fourier loudspeaker scam but hey, now that the genie is out of the bottle... Chuck, why don't you fill in Loubaloo et al on the sordid details. Perhaps a little more info on the ethics of their hero would put a different light on the man and his beliefs. Its interesting how often the evangelists, those with the most intolerant, inflexible beliefs, get caught with their pants around their ankles."

"I was an original subscriber to the Audio Critic and used to enjoy what Mr Aczel said. Back then if IAR, Absolute sound, Stereophile and Audio Critic all agreed on the merits of a component then there was a pretty good chance that it was good. The next step any logically thinking audiophile would do was to get out of his listening chair and seek out where said product could be listened to and then make a decision. I used to travel from Niagara to Toronto and to Buffalo ,the Stereo Emporium, and a place on Niagara Falls Boulevard where Mr Krell, Dan D"Agostino cut his pre-Krell teeth to listen to high ned audio.
When Mr. Aczel put his money into theFourier speaker product,his was the only mag that sang it's praises.He said it was the best that money could buy and like someone said "they are all in it to make a buck" So when the speaker failed to make it's mark, Mr. Aczel and his magazine and speaker went under leaving many people out in the cold.
When he did resurface he came back with a vengence denouncing all things high end,and apparently has a new audience with a different perspective on High end audio.
Perhaps he should start up his speaker again as it appears there are quite a few "audiophiles" on this site who would plunk down their cash because of their faith in his outlook on the High End."


"Just to make this crystal clear though- Mr Aczel and his hi-end audio print magazine, the Audio Critic, were the ONLY champions of the Fourier speaker in the high-end community. In the pages of the Audio Critic, Mr Aczel stated that the Fourier speaker was indeed the best you could buy, state-of the-art, blah blah... He did not however, reveal that he had a financial interest in the Fourier Loudspeakers company. That was discovered and revealed a short while later by his peers in the Absolute Sound if memory serves me correctly (It was a long time ago!).

The rather average sonics of the Fourier speakers, and the glaring conflict of interest that had been revealed by the other magazines destroyed Mr Aczel's reputation. There was much heated discussion about the ethics of hi-end audio reviewing and Mr Aczel's ethics specifically amongst the pages of the Absolute Sound and other 'zines at the time. The failure of both the Audio Critic print magazine and the Fourier Loudspeaker company followed shortly thereafter.

Hmmm, perhaps as Chuck (and many magazine reviewers) have implied, there was a much simpler and nastier explanation for Mr. Aczels sudden and vociferous conversion to the "other side"... Just 'cuz the guy can write well does not make him an honest or honorable individual. "
Does attacking the man now invalidate his claims?