What is wrong with my Surround Sound?

What cables need to be connected for surround sound?? Have them connected but no sound.... Help?

• Hi, Im trying to setup a Pavo pht 515w Surround Sound home theathre system. Have all the cable plugged from the main box into each speaker. Then I have the red and white cables plugged from the box into my dvd player but there is no sound. There is a coaxial input/output on the box but no cable was supplied for this, do i need this cable in order to recieve sound??? As when i plug the red and white cable from the dvd to tv the sound works, but not when i have them plugged into the surround sound box. The power is working and the screen lights up and shows the speakers are connected. What could possiby be wrong? When i switch around the cables I can hear a fuzzy noise from the speakers so I know there working. What could be the problem? Do I need to get a coaxial cable to run from the dvd to the surround sound box?? Thanks

• Answer:

  Let me first explain a little about all those connectors on the back of your DVD player. First off, all of them use an RCA type plug but are colored differently to indicate function. The yellow connector is the video output that goes to your TV. Then you have the white and red connectors marked L and R. These are simply the (analog) stereo left and right outputs that would go directly to your TV's audio input if you did not have any surround sound. You should not use these plugs whatsoever; they are the bad guys. Let me reiterate, the red and white connectors on your DVD player are not to be used for surround sound. The next connector is the one marked "coaxial digital out" which is usually orange or black. This is the one that should connect to your home theater receiver through the input that is marked "digital input" or "coaxial input" on your surround sound box. Don't worry if you were not supplied with a coaxial cable, remember how I said all these use RCA type connectors? That means they are interchangeable, the colors are just there to make set-up simpler. Since you are NOT using the red and white cords, you can use either one as your coaxial cord. Just remember that the cord may be red, just pretend it's orange (or the same color as your coaxial connector). To summarize you should be using a total of two cables: one connecting the video from your DVD player to your TV, and one connecting the digital audio to your Pavo home theater. The next step to having awesome surround sound while watching DVDs is to make sure your surround receiver has the proper input selected. I'm not sure what your Pavo calls it, but it could be "digital input" or "digital audio" or something like that. If you're unsure, start a DVD, should be the only one that produces sound. Another way some home theater units let you know you are connected properly is with a "Dolby Digital" light that comes on when it's receiving the digital audio from the DVD player. Hope this helped. Edit: This all assumes you properly connected your speakers to your receiver, which usually use speaker wire. Also, if your TV has component video inputs, they are usually superior to the video quality of the single video output (yellow connector).