More local people have been drawn to loudspeakers which have put on a new, gorgeous look after becoming notably thinner and featuring paintings on their surface over the past five years or so in Vietnam.

Unlike the bulky, all-black conventional speakers, painted devices now allure more people for their novelty and cater to both visual and acoustic tastes.

Painted speakers are generally those featuring canvases on the front which are suitable for painting or printing photos on.

The paintings boast a wide range of topics, styles and materials. Bridal or family photos or portraits of the buyers can also be showcased right on their speakers.

The speakers’ electronic components are now considerably slimmer than normal and are only some 10 cm thick.

It is thus hard for laymen to tell painted speakers from conventional paintings.

Surging demand in year-end season

Painted speakers in Ho Chi Minh City are in good demand during the year-end season, when people rush to purchase electronic devices, install them in their new houses or buy them as gifts for housewarming parties, according to Doan Ngoc Quynh, the owner of Chau Giang Shop in District 1.

He said business at his shop has been quite hectic since early this month.

Orders from clients from as far as Hanoi in the north, Nghe An Province in the central region, and other provinces in the Mekong Delta have flooded in.

Quynh said he sold around 150 pairs of painted speakers within one month in the same period last year and hopes to achieve equally high sales this year.

His 20m² room is filled to the brim with different kinds of painted speakers, which range from oil paintings featuring still objects, landscapes and calligraphy, to printed photos.

Painted speakers are now offered in three main lines for particular purposes: singing karaoke, enjoying music, and watching movies.

Quynh added his shop’s current best-seller is a pair of 50x70 cm karaoke speakers.

The pair, accompanied by a central sound-fixing 22x75x7.5 cm speaker, costs VND5-7 million (US$235-329).

His staffers install the speakers at clients’ homes and make sure the wires are carefully concealed so that visitors cannot tell the speakers from conventional paintings.

The wire concealment will be perfect if homeowners contact his shop while their house is being built, Quynh noted.

“My painted speakers match perfectly with my LCD television set. Most of my guests keep asking where the music comes from, as the speakers are almost indistinguishable from conventional paintings. I also find their prices affordable,” said Nguyen Hop, a 40-year-old client.

The addition of paintings to speakers has drawn more female clients, who are generally indifferent to hi-tech devices or toys.

At AA Shop in District 10, a group of women marveled at the landscape oil paintings featured on the speakers there. They even forgot to check the speakers’ sound quality.

Le Ngoc Anh, a 38-year-old banker, said people in her department were looking for a special gift for one of their colleagues.

They found a pair of speakers, which costs VND6 million ($282), a perfect, affordable gift.

According to Truong Van Nhi, of Chau Giang Shop, males make up 99 percent of the shop’s clientele for conventional speakers, while 70 percent of those buying painted speakers are females, who are captivated by the gadgets’ rich decorative elements.

Apart from individual clients, many of the shops’ customers are owners of cafés, restaurants and spas who place a strong emphasis on the use of visually, acoustically pleasing speakers.

Despite prior notifications, most clients at Huong Thao Café in Tan Binh District have difficulty telling painted speakers from real paintings, as they congruously alternate with one another in the shop’s background.

Similarly, the entire speaker system used by Korean-style Mr Park Restaurant in District 3 consists of speakers with paintings which feature gorgeous Korean landscapes.

The system goes particularly well with the restaurant’s décor and welcoming ambiance.

Relentless competition

Owners of painted speaker shops have seen bulging customer demand and fiercer competition in recent years.

Five years ago, Nguyen Hung Son, or Son the “speakers,” who now runs AA Shop, was often mentioned when it comes to painted speakers.

Many more shops have now competed for a share of the pie by launching different lines of products.

Son Ha Shop in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City, exclusively uses works created by local artist Ha Son, which gives the shop a consistent thread regarding topics and styles.

Chau Giang Shop in District 1 focuses its attention on printed photos, including clients’ bridal and family pictures or portraits on speakers. 

After using them for a while, clients can have their paintings or photos changed for VND350,000-800,000 (up to $38) a pair to refresh the gadgets and their homes.

Many boast flexible, user-friendly designs, which allow clients to dismantle and reassemble the gadgets themselves.

As Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper observed, most clients have their paintings switched according to the four seasons of the year and the zodiac signs in preparation for Tet (Vietnam’s Lunar New Year), which is two months away.

Several shops also offer bronze and gem paintings, which target higher-income clients.

It typically takes one week to finish a bronze painting, while gem-studded ones usually take at least three weeks to take shape.

These lines of paintings, which are usually large in size, measure 1.6x0.7m and above and are ideal for villas or luxury venues.

Truong Van Nhi, of Chau Giang Shop, said her shop generally places orders with artists or painters to do custom-made paintings before installing them into speakers.

The most expensive pair of painted speakers that her shop has sold so far cost VND45 million ($2,118).

The paintings, which measure 1.6x1.4m and feature legendary French military and political leader Napoléon Bonaparte on horseback, have most details studded with gems.

Acoustic quality in question   

However, a number of customers, particularly audiophiles, are quite concerned about painted speakers’ sound quality compared to their conventional counterparts.

According to Tuoi Tre’s observation, most shop owners at Nhat Tao Market in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City, which specializes in electronic components, remain faithful to conventional speakers.

Le Hung, a shop owner, noted that painted speakers produced manually by experienced craftsmen are of good quality and durable.

However, those made by less experienced, profit-oriented people by awkwardly assembling shoddy Chinese parts are usually poor in acoustic quality.

Painted speakers’ acoustic quality thus varies considerably compared to mass-produced loudspeakers.

It thus takes clients’ great discernment and a good ear to buy visually, acoustically satisfactory painted speakers, Hung concluded.

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