Record Shop with Two Montgomery County Locations Earns High-Fi Nod for Vinyl

The Rock Shop, in both King of Prussia and Plymouth Meeting, received a statewide recommendation for its extensive inventory from Vinyl World, a music industry publication.

An April 2023 article from Interesting Engineering examined the vinyl-record phenomenon.

Vinyl records entered the market in 1948, replacing the brittle, shellac-based 78 RPM version. The new technology offered longer play times, sturdier materials, opportunities for eye-catching cover art, and sharp fidelity.

A 1960s improvement strengthened the appeal with stereo, bringing live-performance acoustics into buyers’ homes.

The album format, however, began losing its luster in the ensuing decades, eroded by eight-track tapes, cassettes, compact discs, and streaming services.

Die-hard loyalists to the format kept it alive, however, drawn by nostalgia or the assertion that vinyl playback is superior to more modern technology.

In the 1990s, vinyl saw a notable resurgence, as reported in The Verge, a tech publication. Its editors cited that by 2014, 9.2 million vinyl records were sold in the U.S., a 260 percent increase from five years prior.

The Vinyl World notice of The Rock Shop, which has a third location in Atlantic City, included other local recommendations, including:

• Forever Changes, Phoenixville
• May 23, West Chester
• Noise Pollution Records, Philadelphia
• Record Revival, Quakertown

More on vinyl sellers like The Rock Shop is at Vinyl World.

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Further exploration of the vinyl resurgence.