Receivers 101 - PCM???

[moviefan]

Originally Posted by sparksj

So how can you tell if a receiver is set up to transfer audio? My Sony receiver does not, but there was nothing on the box that indicated whether it did. Maybe I have something set up incorrectly???

What is the model # of your Sony receiver?

[sparksj]

Originally Posted by moviefan

What is the model # of your Sony receiver?

Sorry for the late response. I have a Sony STR-K7100. It came as a set with the speakers and sub. Normally I would have held out for a better one but I found it open box at BB for $160, so couldn't pass it up.

The specs say:
"HDMI™ Passthrough Powerful HDMI™ connectivity allows for uncompressed audio and video to pass through directly to your HDMI™ -compatible television." Which makes it sound like there is pass through to the TV, but not to the suround speakers.

Is it possible that both my cable and my 360 elite (my PS3 is not hooked to the receiver... YET) are the ones not passing sound through the HDMI? My friend's 360 elite passes sound to his receiver via HDMI.
to get sound from my cable box I had to hook up a coax cable and I had to run optical cable from the Elite???

Edit: I just found the PCM setting, but even when set to PCM, the sound goes away when I unhook the optical cable.

Oh Well, the Onkyo is well within my price range, so it's looks like the best bet.