Mark Fleischmann

"Fortune has learned that iTunes is close to a deal to bring the Beatles catalog online," the magazine's Tim Arango reported last week. How ironic, given their 20 years of legal battles, including most recently a tug of war over the right to use the brandname Apple. Neither Apple Computer or Apple Corps has confirmed the rumor and the deal may still fall through. However, the president of EMI recently told a music industry conference that he expected to see Beatles downloads available "soon." Still to be determined: What window of exclusivity will iTunes win from the Fab Four and their survivors? Will the Beatles allow their tunes and images be used for televised or other cross-promotional advertising, as U2 has done so successfully? Frankly, I couldn't care less, since my iPod already contains Beatles content ripped from legally purchased CDs. What I want to know is: How much longer do I have to wait for the Beatles catalog to be remixed in surround and released on SACD, DVD-Audio, Blu-ray, or HD DVD?

Isn't it a little odd to squeeze a whole symphony orchestra into a living room? The great thing about chamber music is that it's designed to be played in the home, correctly scaled to your personal space. It's best heard live, of course-but, if you can't invite musicians over for tea, the next best thing might be to feed your universal disc player this well-recorded pair of Beethoven chamber works.

Forty-one percent of cable and satellite subscribers are planning to trim or sever their pay-TV subscriptions, according to a survey of 1,000 customers by FocusVision and Zanthus.

The Benchmark AHB2 is the first power amplifier to use energy-efficient technology developed by THX. The two-channel amp is rated at 100 watts per channel into 8 ohms, 170 watts into 4 ohms, or 340 watts into 8 ohms with vanishing low total harmonic distortion of less than 0.00013 percent at 1 kilohertz. “Benchmark is a great partner to roll out THX’s patented all-analog amplifier technology,” says Laurie Fincham, THX senior VP and audio éminence grise. It uses low-profile components to achieve high-power amplification and, if THX’s hopes are fulfilled, may be used in audio/video receivers, TVs, powered speakers, car systems, and handheld devices.