Mike Mettler

Interviews
Remembering Jesse Colin Young, a Gifted Singer & Songwriter Who Taught Us All How to Get Together and Overcome Darkness, Darkness
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 18, 2025  |  First Published: Mar 18, 2025  |  3 comments

Singer, songwriter, and folk-centric multi-instrumentalist Jesse Colin Young passed away at age 83 at his home in Aiken, South Carolina, on March 16, 2025. Young’s artistic legacy remains quite vibrant and most especially fruitful on vinyl, whether it be from The Youngbloods era on Sundazed’s 2010 reissue of 1967’s Earth Music and Impex’s 2023 180g LP reissue of 1969’s Elephant Mountain, or Young’s 2019 2LP solo album Dreamers. In this mega-expanded interview, Young and AP editor Mike Mettler discuss how The Youngbloods’ perennial favorite “Get Together” beat the odds to become an indelible hit, why he felt “Darkness, Darkness” is among his best-loved — and most covered — songs, and why his 2019 studio album Dreamers absolutely had to appear on 2LPs, and not just one. . .

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Analog Gear News
Ortofon’s MC 90X Cartridge: A Classic Cart Gets Revisited & Reimagined
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 17, 2025  |  First Published: Mar 17, 2025  |  5 comments

All hail the return of a classic cart! Or, as Ortofon puts it, “A classic, reimagined.” We’re talking about Ortofon’s MC 90X cartridge, which builds upon the legacy of the Danish company’s rightfully acclaimed MC A90 moving-coil cartridge that was released 17(ish) years ago in conjunction with the company’s 90th anniversary. Read on to see all the specs and features of the limited-edition MC 90X cart. . .

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Album Reviews
Supertramp’s New Live in Paris ’79 3LP Set Is a Tres, Tres Bon Expanded Chronicle of a Premier Prog/Pop Band During Their Onstage Prime
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 03, 2025  |  13 comments

Mercury Studios has seen fit to go all-in on Supertramp’s Live in Paris ’79, which they just released as a fully expanded, complete-concert 3LP set on February 28, 2025. Read Mike Mettler’s review to see if this version improves upon the original, somewhat truncated 1980 2LP version then more simply known as Paris. . .

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Show Reports
Turntables Galore & More at Florida International Audio Expo 2025!
Mike Mettler,  |  Feb 25, 2025  |  First Published: Feb 25, 2025  |  0 comments

Live from this past weekend’s Florida International Audio Expo 2025, Ken Micallef shows us turntables, reel-to-reel players, and more from the likes of Audio Note, Benny Audio, Clearaudio, Bergmann, J.Sikora, and Studer — plus, he has a bonus interview with VPI’s Mat Weisfeld, who walks us through all the ins and outs about the way-cool VPI Avenger Statement turntable. . .

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Analog Gear News
Soulines TT9 Turntable
Mike Mettler  |  Feb 24, 2025  |  First Published: Feb 24, 2025  |  5 comments

As we await all the reports from this past weekend’s Florida International Audio Expo (a.k.a. FLAX) to come into AP HQ for proper editing and posting, we wanted to take a closer look at a cool new turntable in the meantime — and we were struck by Serbian manufacturer Soulines and their relatively recently released TT9 turntable. Read on to see all the cool specs and features of the TT9. . .

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News
Florida International Audio Expo 2025 Is Officially Underway!
Mike Mettler  |  Feb 21, 2025  |  First Published: Feb 21, 2025  |  3 comments

Ok, let’s see here — current weather in Tampa, Florida: 65 degrees, and sunny. Current weather in certain pockets of the East Coast: 23 degrees, with a chance of flurries. Hmm, where would you rather be? Looks like Tampa may win that bet, not just in terms of the weather, but also because the Florida International Audio Expo — a.k.a. FLAX — has officially gotten underway there today, February 21, 2025, and runs through Sunday, February 23, 2025. Some early, direct-from-FLAX notes follow forthwith. . .

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
The 200g 45rpm 2LP UHQR Edition of Steely Dan’s Katy Lied Sounds As Good As Any Vinyl World That It’s Welcome To
Mike Mettler, ,  |  Feb 20, 2025  |  6 comments

Who are these children / Who scheme and run wild. . . No, that’s not a comment on the youth of today, but rather a piercing lyrical couplet of sorts that can only mean one thing — it’s time for us to dive deep into the just-released 200g 45rpm 2LP UHQR edition of Steely Dan’s March 1975 treasure of an LP, Katy Lied. Read Mike Mettler, Mark Smotroff, and Ken Micallef’s combo review to see if the UHQR version of Katy Lied meets and/or exceeds the standards set by its companion SD releases in this all-important reissue series. . .

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Analog Gear News
DS Audio TB-100 Tube Phono EQ to Make Its U.S. Debut at Florida International Audio Expo 2025
Mike Mettler  |  Feb 19, 2025  |  First Published: Feb 19, 2025  |  3 comments

DS Audio has just announced the U.S. availability of the company’s TB-100 tube phono equalizer — and the first Stateside showing of the EQ production model will be at this weekend’s upcoming Florida International Audio Expo (a.k.a. FLAX) in Tampa, Florida, which is being held from February 21-23, 2025. Read on to see all the specs and features of the TB-100, and also find out what other amazing high-end gear it will be paired with for its FLAX demo debut. . .

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Analog Gear News
Clearaudio’s New Flagship Unity Pivotal Tonearm Will Be Demo’ed at Florida International Audio Expo 2025
Mike Mettler  |  Feb 18, 2025  |  First Published: Feb 18, 2025  |  1 comments

We’re all about unity — and so is Clearaudio, who have just announced that their new flagship Unity pivotal tonearm will be demo’ed at the upcoming Florida International Audio Expo (a.k.a. FLAX) in Tampa, Florida, from February 21-23, 2025. Read on to see all the Unity arm’s specs and features, as well as all the cool high-end gear it will be playing through in that FLAX demo system this upcoming weekend. . .

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Analog Gear News
Origin Live Introduces Their New MkV Tonearm Range
Mike Mettler  |  Feb 13, 2025  |  First Published: Feb 13, 2025  |  1 comments

Here’s an instance where the concept of “trickle down” is a positive thing across the board. Today, February 13, 2025, noted British manufacturer Origin Live announces their new MkV tonearm range, which promises “significant trickle-down tech” from their high-end tonearm designs. Read on to see just what tech is being added to the MkV arm range, and why. . .

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