Vinyl Renaissance & Audio

Decent selection, but sometimes overpriced. Only a few of the staff are helpful, and if you have a return, pray to whoever you believe in you don’t get the condescending attitude from the rest of the staff. In their eyes, you are the reason for the defect, not their poor grading. I bought one used lp that was sealed up with their tape, and said to be mint. Looked it over at the store, and seemed to be fine. No way to test without a listening station. Got it home and it played with static, even after a few vpi cleanings.
The second time I have done a return, was for a skip. I was tempted to just keep it rather than deal with the staff. Decided otherwise since this location was closing, and got the same attitude. Luckily there are other shops locally with better staff, and better selections.

Over-​priced records. Know-​it-​all staff. Rude response to a complaint I made online. I won’t go in anymore because of a handful of negative experiences.

Just like at the Overland Park location, the employees at VR will fix you up!
I have been shopping here for years (not only at this location but at others!) I have bought a turntable, two cassette decks, and more albums than one could carry in a van. I have had them work on my broken items and had them make them new again.
No matter what your favorite kind of music you like you can find it here. Folk, Oldie country (my faves) 70’s (my next fave) Pop, Rock and Roll, Metal, what ever. Ask one of employees to help you find it, they are super great!
What can I say? Vinyl Renaissance is where its at. That is one reason I wanted it to be my 100^th review!

Josh, one of the turntable techs, was super helpful in figuring out why my turntable wasn’t playing through my speakers. He spent extra time explaining exactly what I’d need and need to do when I set it back up at home. Would definitely recommend this place to all audiophiles and vinyl enthusiasts!

Have I mentioned my vinyl addiction?
Yes, I have, in another review, and I will continue to expound upon it here. It’s indicative of the addiction, itself, that I want to keep talking about it. To review record stores. To spread the disease…
«Who was the drummer on Peter Gabriel Plays Live?»
This is a question you can only ask seasoned music fans. Fans who also happen to work in a place that feeds their own addictions: the employees of Vinyl Renaissance.
See, I walk into VR and it feels like any record store I grew up with. And I believe that’s the point. Hand-​written signs on bins of 45’s, hand-​picked staff-​selections of local releases, hand-​wrought information about esoteric stereo componanture available for sale… hell, when the above-​asked question about Peter Gabriel’s drummer on that amazing document of what is arguably his most creative musical output, the store manager was hand-​lettering a big sale-​special sign, himself!
It’s easy to spend an hour just looking. It’s easy to drop a Benjamin on what you found, but man, the stack you walk out with is rich and varied and will feed that addiction for… well, countless listens. A record collection doesn’t lose its potency, like other addictions, though; you purchase more, but it just makes the high you get from anything in your stash that much stronger. Every record is another supplement, complementing in comparison and contrast how great each hit is…
«Was it Paul something???»
«No, no, it was an Italian sounding name, I think! Dammit, this is killing me!»
I stood there with an armload, literally. There was new vinyl with download cards inside, there were used records, rarities, some obscure 10″ of Hungarian Gypsy Music… and this looming question of who played on that album, which was literally obsessing me and the two gents who were manning the store, and who were just as enthralled with coming up with the answer…
«David Rhodes on guitar, Tony Levin on bass… argh!»
«Ya know, I really hate to rely on technology to find these answers», I paraphrase the shop manager, «because it’s all up there… it’s still up here on the hard-​drive, I’m just slow on RAM as I get older!»
We laughed because we knew… as a record fiend you catalog this stuff, based on your interests, when you grew up, who was cool (or uncool) and why… you catalog it because you love it. You need it. You live this stuff, music, and because of the analog nature of it, in a shop like this, you don’t want to run to wikipedia, no matter how slow you’re randomly accessing your own memory… just like finding a record you love, one that you never thought you’d see again (or never find on a vinyl pressing), you want the joy of recollecting these memories for yourself; a ritual all too rebellious against the ease of the age of digitization…
«Jerry Marotta!»
And, cheers go up. Music fans remembering music, living and being music. That’s what a place like Vinyl Renaissance is.

This is definitely a record store. You’ve got your obligatory KISS, Pink Floyd and Beatles posters hung around the room with Neil Young playing in the background.
What I really like about this store is there is a lot of room. With a lot of room comes a lot of merchandise, but you don’t feel cluttered like you can in some other stores.
Inventorywise there’s a little bit of everything and it kind of skews a little towards the hippy and the hipster (hey, this is 39^th Street,) but most music fans should be able to find something for their tastes. Plus the staff is super personal, unique and happy to talk music with you and help you in any way possible.
I say come in and look around… and buy local.

Visited this place for the 1^st time this weekend and walked out with what could be seen as the soundtrack to my adolescence. The organization here is truly amazing — you can tell that they spend a lot of time making sure that most sections really are A-​Z. They have a huge $ 2 section with good 80s-​90s picks, and also a 50 cents row, although those aren’t as easily accessible (on a row under the $ 2 albums). I liked their mix of rare & new vinyl — prices on those are fairly close to same titles on amazon so I didn’t mind spending a few extra bucks to buy local. As some of the other reviews point out, the «new artists» section isn’t huge — but they do have some of the popular staples available (Killers, Bön Iver, etc.). All and all, still a good option for vinyl shopping in KC.

Vinyl Renaissance is a great place to shop for your music listening needs — from new and used records, 45s, and record players, to other things like CDs, posters, and magazines.
This isn’t the original VR location, but I like this store better; it has more character to it, located in the Volker neighborhood on 39^th. They have excellent selection — my husband’s wallet will attest to that — and I enjoy browsing the $ 2 section. One of my favorite aspects is the classical records, many of which are sentenced to the cheap bins, are separated from the other clearance records, and even include a handful of chamber music recordings.

I was able to get off early on Monday for Cassie’s birthday, which rarely happens for anything fun. We decided to go and look at albums so she could blow some of her birthday cash on something she doesn’t need. They had a really nice collection of used and new vinyl. We were able to find some older music we really love, and some newer things as well. I would like to go in when I have more time to look over every inch of what they have to offer, but the 45 minutes or so that I did spend in there were well worth it. Cassie spent about 19 dollars on 5 records. What a steal!

The hubby and I spend a lot of Saturdays on this little strip of 39^th. We usually start out at Friend’s Sushi and Bento (to partake of the $ 1 sushi and $ 3 rolls from 11 — 3!), meander into Prospero’s for a book fix, split a monster cinnamon roll at The Mud House and just generally pop our heads into whatever nook strikes our fancy. We are creatures of habit, what can I say?
We always end up at Vinyl Renaissance and Audio. It is exactly what I want in a record store. Well-​organized and thought out, it’s neither too big as to be overwhelming, nor is it too small as to sacrifice selection. It’s always well-​lit and clean.
I’ve been amassing a record collection for some years now and have poked around many independent music stores. I’ve come to find that the stereotypes are true. The staff at most of these places are carefully dressed in the latest fashions from Hipsters ‘R Us and they couldn’t care less about your questions, even if you ask them ironically. Not so at Vinyl Renaissance. I like to talk about music and the new arrivals and I have been met with nothing but patience every time I bug the staff about the condition of $ 2 albums. (Note to self: They’re $ 2. Probably a clue that they’re not in pristine condition.)
The last time I went in, I found a Frank Sinatra three album set on the discount shelf, and a duplicate at a higher price in the Jazz section. Chris was kind enough to take a look at the discount album with me. It was fine, would have been a great bargain, but it was missing a disc and I wanted the complete trilogy. I don’t know how he remembered (they have a lot of selection), but he took me right to a third copy of the set, priced somewhere in the middle between the two I was looking at. When was the last time you had a sales person try to sell you something less expensive than what you had in hand? I was floored. I shouldn’t have been surprised, as he is always very informative and helpful, but still.
Talk to Mark about the many bands he has worked with, both locally and nationally. He has quite a history in the music scene and he is happy to share his interesting stories. He’s courteous and friendly as well. And man, I can’t say it enough. These people know their inventory!
I know this is a newer location and it’s exciting to see the changes they’ve made, even in the brief time they have been open. They now have a dedicated stereo/​home theater section and it looks like they are hoping to expand on that for the AV sophisticates.
They’ve opened up a small performance space two doors down from the main floor. Hubs and I were on hand for their inaugural show — The Sexy Accident — and it’s small. Really small. It was kind of hard to listen if you were actually standing in the room — the acoustics made everything punishingly loud. Last time I visited, Mark mentioned that they were hoping to host more stripped down, acoustic shows there in the future. It was kind of cool seeing The Sexy Accident at that venue, though. Everyone at the show piled out on the sidewalk, due to the volume and we had a little impromptu block party. So I don’t really know how I feel about that. :)
I’m excited to see what this store comes up with in the future. They’re already doing so much right — selection, staff, location. It’s going to be hard for them to top but I have total faith in them. And Lord knows I’ll be back. Vinyl Renaissance and Audio is a good habit to have.

Love this store! We were in town from Seattle and went down to see the 39^th Street Art walk. During the art walk they had some fantastic live music going on. I wish I could go every time that this was going on.
The record store itself was better than anything we have in Seattle. They had the new records that I wanted and the older records that I had been looking for. I wish that I had brought an extra suitcase with me to bring even more home with me. Luckily they ship so I can have them send me the things I purchased!
The staff members were very friendly, helpful, and extremely knowledgable about their inventory, and music in general.
I wish that they would just open a store in Seattle!

I have not had the best past experiences with Vinyl Renaissance’s original location, so when it was announced that they would be opening their new location in the heart of the 39^th Street district, my inner monologue could be succinctly quoted as «great, another place where I’ll have to spend $ 8 just to get a 7 inch.» Fortunately for midtown record enthusiasts, the new location actually has competitive pricing, most likely due to the location being a block away from Zebedee’s RPM.
I don’t feel I can accurately portray the scenery of Vinyl Renaissance, as of this writing they have only been open for 24 hours, their grand opening coinciding with the annual Record Store Day celebration. To say the least, the place was an utter madhouse to navigate. I witnessed dozens of people standing in the check-​out line with boxes full of records, eager to drop hundreds of dollars on some rarities these parts have not seen often.
Though the location had hundreds of people walk through it on it’s first day open to the public, the staff were doing an excellent job of ensuring those that needed it were helped, and that the selections stayed categorized as best as possible. They have a respectable section of brand new LPs, wooden tables containing thousands of dollar bin releases, and a decently-​stocked new/​used CD area, where I happened upon some local surprises from the past for a mere $ 1 a piece.
The only section of the store I would say needs some work is the 7″ section, which at this point is almost exclusively records that came out before the mid 1980s. There are a few recent picture-​sleeve records peppered throughout, but most are die-​cut paper sleeves that were prominent before artwork was ever considered a sale factor.
I will gladly return on one of the business’ average days, when I can leisurely peruse their offerings without feeling like I am being rushed by the slew of people waiting to browse after I am finished.