By the end of the 1960s, vinyl sales worldwide had surpassed all expectations. Public libraries that included a vinyl department reported a dramatic rise in record loans, while the explosion in the pop music business fuelled sales of 45rpm singles. Music giant EMI and publisher Paul Hamlyn were enjoying ‘record’ turnover with their Music for Pleasure label and the sudden interest in home hi-fi saw an increase in the number of specialist high-street record shops. Capitialising on this hi-fi bonanza, department store chains like the Co-Op and companies like The Rank Organisation catered for the hardware side of the business, by supplying everything from all-in-one radiograms to budget-priced separates.

Long before the flood of Japanese-made components, The Rank Organisation were offering a wide selection of hi-fi and AV kit for the home through subsidiaries like Bush Radio (originally acquired by Rank in 1949). In 1972 they launched the Arena stereo systems range, each of which was created by the award-winning Danish furniture designer Hans Olsen, in teak, or teak/rosewood and white finish.

At the budget-end of the scale was the Arena System 1 (£101), which featured the A.220 amplifier, L-510 standmount loudspeakers and R.25 stereo record player. The turntable was a Garrard SP25 MkIII deck, with either manual or automatic play, while the G.800 ‘Free Field’ magnetic cartridge was supplied by Goldring. The amplifier was surprisingly punchy, for a unit with a maximum output of only 12 watts per channel music power (four ohms). Signal/noise ratio was 55dB, harmonic distortion less than 1% and frequency response was 25-20,000 Hz-3 dB. Inputs included either magnetic (Goldring single-point diamond type D110) or ceramic pick-up, tape recorder and tuner. Outputs included tape (47 Kohms), loudspeakers (3-15 ohms) and a front headphone socket (3-50 ohms).

The L.510 loudspeakers had a frequency range of 60-20,000 Hz, three drivers (6.5 and two 2.5 inch), an impedance of four ohms and 15 watts power handling. The T.224 stereo FM tuner was available for an extra £35. With five pre-set FM stations, the T.224 included a stereo decoder and mono-stereo switch.

At the top-end of the Arena range was System 5 (£190), with a Garrard AP76 transcription deck and Goldring G.800E ‘Free Field’ high-compliance magnetic cartridge. The TA.2800 AM/FM tuner-amplifier boasted 15 watts per channel, six pre-set FM stations and outputs for tape recorder, headphones and two pairs of loudspeakers – in this case the L-520 floorstanders, with a frequency range of 50-20,000 Hz and an impedance of 3.2 ohms.

Also designed specifically for the Bush Arena hi-fi range were the four-ohm impedance K-600 headphones (£12) from Koss, a pair of L-530 floorstanding loudspeakers (£91) with a 1.5-inch tweeter, five-inch mid and 10-inch bass unit. Impedance was again four ohms, while power handling was 25 watts.

As the Bush Arena systems were launched on the cusp of the audio cassette revolution, there was also a cassette deck produced. The C435 (£50), included outputs for amplifier and headphones, as well as inputs for two microphones. Individual slider-controls were standard fit and enabled fine-tuning of the recording levels per channel, while the design of the fascia controls resembled the popular reel-to-reel tape recorder style of the time, with piano key operation.  

A six-foot audio cable, terminated at both ends with a five-pin DIN (Deutsches Institut fur Normung) plug was also provided. Actually, all connections on the Arena hi-fi systems were via the DIN method, including the speakers (2-pin). Used extensively in Germany and Eastern Europe, DIN connectors were rather clumsy and, on occasions, notoriously unreliable. DINS were finally faded out on home hi-fi kit by the end of the seventies/early eighties in favour of RCA connectors.

Of all the pieces in the Arena kit systems, the most reliable component was the Garrard deck, which was usually retained long after it’s partnering components had been upgraded or confined to the scrapheap. A demise that was particularly unfortunate in the case of the speakers. Excellent in performance, they were restricted by their low-power handling. As for the amplifiers, they usually gave up the ghost quite quickly, due to failing electronics, or unreliable DIN connections.

But as any veteran hi-fi aficionado knows only to well, the Bush Arena components were excellent stepping-stones to bigger and better upgrades.

And in our next retro blog, we’ll discuss one such classic upgrade, the £120, Marantz 5000 stereo cassette deck from the mid-seventies.