Surround sound isn't doing what I got it for, know I'm doing something wrong.?

This article has helped many of our customers: http://www.bossyhd.com/post-2/ "Connecting Your Surround Sound Connecting surround sound is probably the most common question a home theater technician will receive. In this blog you will not only learn how to setup your surround sound, but you will have the knowledge to teach others. Lets explore the dynamics of surround sound first. Your typical home theater setup is your television, a/v receiver (with speakers), and components (cable box, gaming unit and blu ray player). Properly connecting them all will give you a better home theater experience. Television Your television is simply a receiver of signals. It receives video and audio from other sources. Your television is NOT a source. It does not produce any video or audio on its own. This is VERY important to remember. A/V Receiver Your A/V (audio/video) receiver is a distributor of signals. It is not a source of signals. Even if you are using the tuner to hear over-the-air radio your receiver is only receiving the signal from a radio tower. The most important aspect of a receiver is to distribute. It distributes sound to the speakers and video to the television. THAT’S IT! It does nothing more. Do not let all the plugs in the back confuse you to the importance of a receiver. (For the audiophiles, we are aware receivers can distribute sound to the television, but this blog is about surround sound, not television sound.) Components Components are sources. They send video and audio signals to your television and receiver. NOTHING MORE. Connecting Surround Sound There are two ways to connect surround sound and one wrong way. When considering surround sound you must outline your goals first. Typically the goal is to hear surround sound from all components. To achieve this all components must go through the receiver. Why? The receiver owns the speakers, so you must go through the receiver first. Plug all components into the receivers “In” option, in their corresponding plugs. Many receivers are labeled “DVD In”, “Cable/SAT In” or “AUX In” (gaming). Now on the “OUT” or “OUT TO TV” input of the receiver, plug this into the TV. I am not suggesting which cables to use, because you can make that choice on your own. Your receiver will typically give you options. There is “HDMI In”, “A/V In” (red, white and yellow) and “Component In” (red, blue, green with red and white for audio) on the receiver, as well as corresponding “OUT” to the television. This is why you see so many input options. You have the choice of which type of cable you will use. Another more complicated option is to connect only audio to your receiver from your components (using audio only cables) and connect directly to your television from the components (using video only cables). Just noting it is possible, but NOT RECOMMENDED! The wrong way to setup surround sound is to connect all components directly to the television and use an “Audio Out” to the receiver. Will it work? Yes. Why is it wrong? You are using your television as a distribution system and it is not intended for this use. You are diluting the sound quality by not directly connecting the component to the intended source, the receiver. To note: This may be your only option on certain surround sound systems. These systems do not have adequate “In” options to connect all components. You should now be able to setup your own surround sound and help a few friends. Enjoy your home theater, it should bring years of family memories." Let me know if you have any more questions.