<font color='#000000'>Optical inputs may be the most thoughtless addition to home theater receivers. As things stand now, it is not only necessary to have enough jacks to accommodate all your digital sources, but they must also be the right type! There are 4 digital audio inputs to the receiver I wanted to buy. Unfortunately, 3 of them were optical and only one was coax. You guessed it; I needed only 2 inputs, but both had to be coax.
I propose that all receivers be built using dual purpose digital audio input jacks. These jacks are already on the market. They can be used with either 3.5mm optical plugs or 1/8" coaxial miniplugs. Either one works. This way all one needs is enough jacks, not ones of a particular type. Interconnects with either type of plug are available at low cost.</font>
