Audio Setup for Blu-ray Issue

[PuttyGod]

Hi!
I just bought a Samsung 5.1 system with an upscaling dvd player/receiver. I mainly bought the setup because I was finding that Blu Ray movies seemed a little too quiet (has anyone else experienced this? I was constantly maxxing out the volume in order to hear the movies when every other media including dvds in the same player never demand anything more than a quarter of the volume) and I was told this would definitely help over the regular stereo sound from my HDTV. Nevertheless, I'm having a lot of trouble connecting the system properly. I have enough experience with this kind of thing, but I can't help but think that I'm missing something. I have a Sharp 42'' Aquos HDTV with 7 inputs, 3 or 4 of which are HDMI. I'll post the specs for the theater system at the bottom.

Someone said something about an optical cable and I see a digital audio output on the side of my tv. If I connect an optical cable from the receiver to the connection on the tv will that make the audio from all of the tv's inputs come through the 5.1? Seems unlikely. From what I'm hearing, I'm going to have to connect the Blu Ray player directly to the receiver with an optical cable. The theater system doesnt appear to have many inputs (meaning I would only be able to have the blu ray connected to the 5.1 and not my digital cable or game console), so if there are any similarly priced systems that you guys would recommend, feel free to list them off.

Here's the specs from Best Buy.
Model: HT-Z310
* Complete home theater system includes 5.1-channel amplifier with built-in surround sound decoders, 1080p upconvert DVD/CD/MP3/DivX player, FM tuner, 4 satellite speakers, center speaker and subwoofer
* 1000W total power (main speakers: 166W x 2; center channel: 166W; rear surround speakers: 166W x 2; subwoofer: 170W)
* Multiple surround sound decoders built in. Learn more about surround sound home theater
* Built-in surround sound decoders include Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic and DTS
* 6 discrete DSP soundfields
* DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-Audio, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA, MP3, JPEG and DivX playback capabilities
* FM tuner with 15 station presets
* Front channel bookshelf speakers feature 2-3/4" midrange
* 6-1/2" passive subwoofer
* Wireless-ready for connection to wireless speakers
* Inputs: 1 optical digital audio, 2 stereo audio
* Outputs: 1 component video, 1 HDMI and 1 video monitor

Oh and I'll add again that the only thing that got me looking for a better sound system was that Blu Ray movies seemed a little quiet. So is this at least a passable solution, if only for a blu ray player and maybe a PS3/360?
Thanks guys!