Now, this little joker may just be the answer to your problem! Have you just invested £££s in a nice, new lcd/led television - like one of the superb Samsung models currently available? Perhaps you find the sound a bit lacking and 'thin' due to the style of the cabinet. And maybe you don't want to splash more money out on a 'Home Cinema' audio set-up. Or perhaps, like me, you prefer stereo sound instead of being surrounded by your audio. You may already own a fine stereo amplifier - like a Quad, Teac or one of the many others available - but alas, you find these are equipped only with RCA ('phono') sockets or even DIN sockets and your lovely new tele only has an 'optical' audio output. This little box is just what you want! Complete with its own mains-to-5volt power supply you can plug in your optical lead and convert this to phono outputs which will interface with your hi-fi amplifier. And the results are good. Very good. The device is built (well) into a small box which has a small, sub-miniature coaxial power socket into which you plug the 5-volt output from a 'wall-wart' type power supply. If you are a skilled electronics engineer I guess you could build a power supply into either your amplifier or even the tv using a voltage regulator and dispense with the external power supply. DON'T ATTEMPT THIS, THOUGH UNLESS YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE DOING! ASIDE FROM DAMAGING YOUR TV OR AMPLIFIER THERE IS A REAL DANGER OF PERSONAL INJURY OR EVEN DEATH!
******MARCH2012******* and just a little note to add that this adapter is still going strong, has never given a moment's trouble and carries on doing what it is supposed to do! Altogether a most satisfactory purchase from 2009.