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A Christmas Tale
“I’m
always happy to see you, my friend” Audiophile B replied. “It’s almost
two years since we last met.”
“Your
site about EMT is awesome, old chap” Audiophile A said briskly, as the
waiter put on the small square table between him and his old friend two
large cocktail glasses filled to the brim with crystal-clear,
freezing-cold liquid.
“Thank
you, my friend. It’s over 235 pages now, all devoted to EMT.”
“Two
hundred thirty-five pages! Brilliant! You must find lots of good deals online, I bet.”
“Mostly
I receive e-mails from EMT owners around the world who are in trouble
and ask for help. If I can, I help them.”
‘Well,
at least you’ll enjoy some good relations with the owners of EMT. I
gather that they must like the publicity you do since years to their
products .”
“Uhm,
well…I don't think so. When I sent some e-mails asking for pictures and
financial data, they didn’t even bother to answer.” “You must be joking." Audiophile A flashed a wicked grin towards his old pal.
“Not
at all. They won’t even sell me directly a TSD 15 from the factory.
They stiffed me.... they told me I’d have to buy it from their distributor in
Audiophile
A was genuinely amused. “So the EMT management don’t care if you’re
alive or dead?”
“They didn’t even send
me an e-mail greeting card for Christmas.”
“And
you still go on praising their products?”
“It’s
not their products, my friend” Audiophile B replied, but he
wasn’t smiling anymore. “I’m praising the products made by EMT,
that’s all. I’m an enthusiast, you know.”
“Nobody
would tell the difference between ‘new’ and ‘old’ EMT equipment
browsing your site, my old boy. Actually, you’re praising also
products they are remanufacturing today….they’re not the same thing,
in my opinion.”
“I
know.”
“But
you enjoy the contact with fellow EMT enthusiasts, I’m sure.”
“It used to be a nice relationship, we were all old-fashioned gentlemen
until a few years ago” Audiophile B mumbled. “Then, suddenly, it went
all wrong....one week ago an American EMT dealer, a guy named Jonathan,
completely unknown to me, attacked me on a public forum because I didn’t
want to say that the new EMT cartridges are as good as the old
one….quite rude. This kind of behaviour was unknown when we were only a
few collectors rescuing battered EMTs from the scrap heap....machines
junked by studios switching to digital!”
Audiophile
A sneered, downing the last drops of his Martini. “So here we
are….! You must understand the lesson. Stop working to promote a brand owned and sold by people who
don’t care for you. Grow up, at long last! We have a number of nice
golf tournaments to play next spring, you have a new Porsche book to write,
your surgery practice, and so on….Well” he added, throwing a glance at his Rolex, “too
bad it’s quite late now to continue this nice meeting. Thanks for the Martini,
the 'Pasini Express' will always remain my favourite. But think again to my advice! Grow up!” and
disappeared, laughing heartily, in the fog of a very damp
Audiophile B remained at the table for a few more seconds. Without being asked, the waiter brought him the usual additional half glass of ‘Express’. He felt sad; the harsh, all too realistic words of his old friend had made him think at the time and energy that he had spent on his site for the last 5 years, and the result had been....nothing. He began to understand that after all these years, he had no real reason to continue in his efforts. Suddenly Audiophile B felt alone, defeated. And so he stood up, walked slowly home, turned on the PC and, with a few painful clicks, closed his EMT site.
Following the contacts with mr
Limon,
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