Unique collection of "ancient sounds" in the mountain town of Pleiku

Building a career

Mr. Le Dinh Quoc was born into a poor family in Hoai An district, Binh Dinh province. Since childhood, Mr. Quoc did not have the care of his father and often followed his mother to work all over the country. Then his mother got married and had a new family. At the age of 16, the small young man traveled to the Central Highlands to make a living.

With nothing, Mr. Quoc had to do many jobs to make a living, from selling bread, selling ice cream to shining shoes... Most of the roads in Gia Lai and Kon Tum have his footprints. Working hard from morning to night, Mr. Quoc eventually had some capital in his pocket.

In Kon Tum, he met a radio and cassette repairman. He thought he should have a stable job instead of wandering around every village and alley every day. So, he decided to follow this repairman to learn the trade. After a while, when he had some understanding of the trade, Mr. Quoc pooled his money to open an electronics repair shop in Kon Tum.

Although he was eager to learn, he found his knowledge increasingly limited. The knowledge and repair techniques he had learned before were actually very basic. Therefore, Mr. Quoc brought a small amount of capital and packed his bags to Saigon to “find a teacher” to improve his skills. Here, Mr. Quoc was lucky to be accepted into a large repair shop. Because he already had previous experience, Mr. Quoc was able to study for a workshop manager certificate - a fairly high certificate in the profession.

He took refuge in a dilapidated slum in the Bong Bridge area across the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canal. Many days, he came to the workshop hungry but still diligently learned from the skilled teachers.

After more than half a year of “learning from a master”, Mr. Quoc returned to Kon Tum to practice his profession, then moved to Gia Lai to rent a space to open a shop. With no capital, there were times when he thought he could not stick with the profession. However, no matter what, he did not get discouraged. And so, his business gradually improved.

It started when a neighbor gave him two broken TVs. He spent days researching and finally managed to fix both of them, polish them like new, and resell them for a profit. While repairing and reselling electronic devices, Mr. Quoc's store became more and more profitable every day. With his electronics repair skills, he won over his father-in-law.

In 1974, he and his wife bought a house at 63 Hoang Van Thu (Pleiku town) and opened a shop called Dai Vinh, specializing in repairing and selling electronic devices. Thanks to his skillful skills and business acumen, Dai Vinh was one of the largest electronics stores at that time. Along with stores such as Dai Thanh, Thanh Tung, Duc Ngoc... Dai Vinh became a part of the memories of the people of the mountain town of Pleiku for decades after liberation.

In 1998, Mr. Quoc stopped working in the electronics sector to focus on bicycle, tourism, and agricultural businesses... With nearly 30 years in the profession and many generations of electronic machinery, Mr. Quoc is currently still an advisor to the Gia Lai Electronics Association with more than 100 members.

Treasure trove of "ancient sounds"

Although he is not in the profession, every time he listens to old songs, Mr. Quoc feels nostalgic for a time long gone. In 2015, he came up with the idea of collecting old audio equipment to satisfy his desire. He always tries to collect famous equipment of the time such as: Akai, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, National... which are more than half a century old.

Mr. Quoc cherishes the mementos of more than half a century. Photo: Van Ngoc

Mr. Quoc shared: “When I was a mechanic, I often repaired record players and luxury speakers that I could not afford in my entire life. At that time, only the rich could afford them because they cost 8-10 taels of gold.

In a way, it represents the class of the upper class at that time. Especially the Japanese Akai brand reel-to-reel tape players, beautiful designs, authentic, rustic sound, unprocessed to enhance the singer's voice that modern devices later could not have.

Traveling from South to North, whenever he hears about a place that has a favorite brand of record player, speaker, disc, etc., Mr. Quoc goes there. In particular, through the e-commerce platform eBay, he was able to buy electronic items right in Japan with limited editions that are up to 80 years old.

Currently, his collection has more than 100 record players, speakers, and amplifiers of all kinds. All of them work well. In his stately house on Van Kiep Street, Mr. Quoc displays his record players in the most prominent position in the living room. Along with that, he devotes a large space to making shelves for his massive collection, which makes everyone overwhelmed.

After gently wiping the machines, Mr. Quoc turned on some of the record players for us to enjoy the sounds bearing the mark of time. He skillfully and quickly operated each button, the speaker, and the sound adjustment knobs were arranged together very carefully and scientifically, in a way that only a skilled person could design.

“There are machines and speakers that are the same age as me but still work very well. The speakers are old but very durable, the sound is impeccable. Every time the music of Thanh Thuy, Thai Thanh, Khanh Ly… plays, memories of a time come flooding back. It represents the beginning of the time when electronic devices “landed” in Vietnam. For me, it is a burning desire, a dream of a time that I have only now been able to own,” Mr. Quoc confided.

With that rare collection, Mr. Quoc’s house has become a meeting place for nostalgic people in Pleiku. Many people come here to sip tea, coffee and relax to enjoy old melodies from machines and speakers that were once considered luxuries.

Mr. Vo Dinh Sang (born in 1950, Yen The ward, Pleiku city) shared: “For people in their seventies like us, every time we hear those melodies, we feel moved as memories of a time come flooding back.

We often sit together to tell each other old stories, telling them over and over again without getting bored. It is a time to relax the soul. I have to thank Mr. Quoc because there is someone who understands the profession thoroughly and has a strong passion to preserve these precious relics.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/bo-suu-tap-am-thanh-co-doc-nhat-vo-nhi-o-pho-nui-pleiku-240204.html