Bush gets retro with old fashioned digital radios

It’s hard for a “digital” radio to even get called “retro”, but that’s exactly what Bush has accomplished, with two modern radios that looks like a piece out of yesteryear with functionality from today.

Internet streaming may well be penetrating earphones and speakers everywhere, but you can’t beat good old radio, providing local content, commentary, music playlists, and a general feeling that someone out there might be talking to you.

For many, radio is a companion, and in recent years, it’s a companion with a better sounding voice, as digital radio has improved the quality of sound substantially, making radio sound more like a CD and providing more places to tune into.

But the radios have often been made to look modern, and if you’re after something that sounds modern but looks the way you remember a radio looked, Bush has you taken care of.

First there’s a portable option — the Bush Heritage P1 Connect — because at one point, radios were highly portable.

More than just a portable digital radio — DAB+ — with looks like something out of the old days, the P1 Connect also packs in WiFi, allowing you to get the radio online for radio streaming, connecting to other radio stations around the world, or even stream music through Spotify Connect.

The P1 also relies on a rechargeable battery capable of delivering up to 10 hours of battery life, and another audio device can be plugged in to use the speaker via auxiliary in.

At $449, it’s essentially an evolution of the radio and digital radio to let you have your cake and eat it too, because if there’s nothing you want to listen to locally, the internet is sure to make up the rest.

And if you want to listen to the radio in more than one place in the home, there’s even a stationary version of the radio, called the Bush Heritage II Connect which can connect to a secondary speaker for multi-room radio.

The look of the Heritage II Connect is similar to the P1, offering up a design out of the 50s, but with more modern bits and bobs inside, complete with the same DAB+ and WiFi tech inside, but with the added bonus of supporting Bluetooth, too.

At $499, it’s a more stationary digital radio, but it will support secondary speakers made for the Heritage II Connect that will allow the audio to be spread across multiple rooms, or where ever the secondary speakers are located.

“There is currently nothing else like the Heritage II Connect on the market,” said Brian Rodgers, Sales Director at Bush Australia.

“And to provide the ultimate in multi-room versatility, Bush can now announce the availability of the ‘Son’ of Heritage II Connect – a smaller, versatile portable speaker which can work alone or in cahoots with the base unit to provide multi-room sound.”

Both the Bush Heritage P1 Connect and Heritage II Connect can be found in stores this month, with the speakers retailing for $399 and $499 respectively.