# Cable TV audio to my receiver



## carmaniac13 (Jan 3, 2011)

Hey everyone,

Hopefully I'm in the right section for this.
I just got an LG 60PZ750 plasma tv, and I have it hooked up to a Harman Kardon HK3490 Stereo Receiver via an optical cable. (One of the reasons I went with the HK, digital in). But anyway, when I'm watching digital TV channels, the audio isn't working on the HK. But it does work while watching analog channels. I have no set-top box, everything is handled via the TV's built-in tuner. While on a digital channel, the TV lists the audio as Dolby Digital.

I'm wondering if anyone has any insight into the problem. Both the TV and Receiver manuals don't offer much info in the way of advanced audio settings. Does anyone know if the HK only accepts a PCM signal for the digital inputs? If so, would there be a way to have my TV output a PCM signal on the digital channels?

Thanks for any help! I'd love to not be restricted to the TV speakers on digital channels.


----------



## Guest (Sep 15, 2011)

What cable box are you using?

When you say Analog, do you mean standard definition? All TV is digital now days, even the old SD channels. So does your audio work on SD channels, but not HD channels?

If you can, I'd hook the cable box to the TV via HDMI, and use the optical cable out on the cable box to your receiver and just skip the TV. The only down side is, you'll have to turn the audio down on the TV while using the AVR.


----------



## koyaan (Mar 2, 2010)

Since you have no cable box, your options ar pretty limited. You might want to consider an analog connection between the TV and the reciever. This isn't an ideal solution, but i'm not sure what else you can do.


----------



## carmaniac13 (Jan 3, 2011)

I don't have a cable box at all. I'm in a dorm, and the cable service they provide still has a few old fashioned analog channels, as well as a wide array of digital (SD and HD) channels. And for some reason, my receiver only seems to play the audio from the analog stations. The audio on both the SD and HD digital channels doesn't work on the receiver. On the receiver display, it says non-PCM when not playing, which would make me think it will only accept PCM signals. This seems kind of quirky since the receiver has Dolby stereo processing built-in. I would think it could take a Dolby input stream.


----------



## Guest (Sep 15, 2011)

carmaniac13 said:


> I don't have a cable box at all. I'm in a dorm, and the cable service they provide still has a few old fashioned analog channels, as well as a wide array of digital (SD and HD) channels. And for some reason, my receiver only seems to play the audio from the analog stations. The audio on both the SD and HD digital channels doesn't work on the receiver. On the receiver display, it says non-PCM when not playing, which would make me think it will only accept PCM signals. This seems kind of quirky since the receiver has Dolby stereo processing built-in. I would think it could take a Dolby input stream.


Mmmm, I thought all analog service was cut off for good. I apologize if that information was incorrect. I thought by law they couldn't broadcast analog TV anymore...

Anyway, double check the owners manual on your AVR. The last one I set up was a Marantz, so it might not apply to your problem, but having the audio input set to auto wasn't good enough. I had to tinker with things to get audio through a fiber optic cable.

Also, check and see if your TV has a firmware update. I wonder if the TV audio out is a problem. Unless you can borrow or test the input on your AVR with something else, it could be tricky finding the problem and solution.


----------



## carmaniac13 (Jan 3, 2011)

Yea I thought all analog had to be cut off as well. (But I guess because it's a service just for on-campus dorming, they left some analog channels since a lot of people bring old CRTs, and they don't want to hand out cable boxes.)

The TV should be up to date. It automatically updated the firmware when I connected it to the internet. I should look to see if there's a firmware update for my AVR, though. I think there's a way that it can be updated if necessary.

The optical channel itself isn't a problem. I mostly have my laptop hooked up to the TV via HDMI, with the optical out on the TV going to the receiver, and that passes whatever audio I have on my computer with no issue.


----------



## mrbashfo (Oct 24, 2010)

Yeah, without that cable box your options are extremely limited. One of the members said an analog connection between the tv and the HK which is the other option you can try. I mean you wont be getting that full surround sound feeling but hey, TV Speakers <<<< REAL SPEAKERS lol


----------

