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John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band's 1971 album Imagine has now been remixed and remastered at Abbey Road Studios in London, supervised by Yoko Ono, and will be reissued in a new version on vinyl, CD, and cassette by Capitol">http://www.capitolrecords.com">Capitol Records on March 28. The re-release precedes the April 11 release of a behind-the-scenes DVD documentary, Gimme Some Truth—The Making of John Lennon's Imagine Album, which attempts to examine the creative process that took place at Lennon's home recording studio during the legendary 1971 sessions.

In his essay "Let's">http://www.stereophile.com//asweseeit/208/">Let's Face the Music and Dance," John Marks, founder of John Marks Records, asks: "Does high-end audio have a future?" Of course it does, he says. But will it be one worth the price? Marks writes, "for most of its potential consumers, high-end audio is now a matter of sharply diminishing economic returns. A large incremental expenditure guarantees only a relatively modest, even marginal improvement in sound quality." How to forge ahead anyway? Marks offers his advice to our "dysfunctional" audio family.

Last week, Capitol">http://www.capitolrecords.com/">Capitol Records announced that it will release expanded DVD and VHS editions of Endless Harmony: The Beach Boys Story. The documentary, produced by Stephanie Bennett and directed by Alan Boyd, made its US television debut on VH1 in 1998. A soundtrack CD of Endless Harmony, originally released to coincide with the VH1 airing, is also available.

The radio industry's frenzy of mergers and acquisitions has slowed down but hasn't stopped. San Antonio-based Clear">http://www.clearchannel.com/">Clear Channel Communications Inc., one of the largest radio broadcasters in the US, has agreed to acquire AMFM">http://www.amfm.com/">AMFM Inc., another major player. The merger will give Clear Channel more than 850 stations nationwide. The deal hinges on Clear Channel unloading 72 of its stations in 27 markets to comply with Federal">http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission rules limiting the number of stations that can be owned by a single operator.

Three-dimensional modeling, 4-pi anechoic chambers, and laser inteferometry were but a few of the industrial marvels revealed in early March to a group of Stereophile and Stereophile Guide to Home Theater scribes. The group convened Tuesday, March 7, at Revel headquarters in the massive Harman">http://www.harman.com/">Harman International complex in Northridge, California, for an inside view of the company's research, development, and manufacturing operations, organized and led by Madrigalhttp://www.madrigal.com/">Madrigal; president Mark Glazier. Madrigal is Harman's Middletown, Connecticut-based high-end operation, with the Proceed, Mark Levinson, and Revel lines under its jurisdiction.

It happens to most of us. You're tooling down the road, listening to the radio, and you hear some music that captures your interest. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to easily find out who the artist is and what label they record for without waiting for the announcer, so you can head to your favorite music outlet and buy the disc? But how about pushing a button and ordering the item right there on the spot—from the driver's seat?

Houston's InterWeb">http://www.houston-interweb.com/">InterWeb Design has signed a joint venture agreement to bring MP3 audio to China. The three-way agreement, finalized in late February with a Chinese investment company and the Chinese government, will establish the first government-approved MP3 site in China.