coax vs. optical? -- There's a lot of debate about it, with many people preferring coaxial over optical. I've used both, and have been able to find very little (almost no) difference. One thing you might keep in mind, and this is just my opinion: I've noticed a slight benefit on coax digital when upgrading from Monster Cables to BetterCables interconnects, but have not seen much difference between different optical cables. Best bet is probably to find a player you like at a price you like. If you have both outputs on the player, probably go with coax. If it's optical-only, though, don't sweat it.