about that optical/co-ax thing. in the consumer market i am not as knowledgable. we do use fiber a bit in the field..and i love it out there...kicks microwave and sat trans. butt. but that is different than ...the way it appears to be applied with ...equipment that doesn't cost the gross national product of china. has nothing been done in this field to allow a really great concept to work? anyone handling this one? i do remember several articles in TAS or Stereophile concerning this area...and they weren't pleased about it's progress, either. but that was seveeral years ago...we wouldn't use fiber year ago, either...cause of it's tensile strength and the long and tedious repair rate if ya broke one. that was then, today you can actually run a tank over the better brands...repair comes in a kit...heck ya can't even see the 'real' fiber with your eye balls...it's inside the plastic/glass that most people mistake as the 'fiber'...teeny tiny thing, it is. now ya just put the two broken ones is each side, turn around 3 times while during a full moon ... and chant the prayer of Thoth...and wa-la..it works again. hasn't any of this filtered down. all they gotta do, is work on that little 'transducer' device...the one that sucks.