I'm trying to connect an Arcam AVR300 to a Samsung LNT-69, via an HD/DVR cablebox. Since the AVR does not have HDMI connections, what is the best way to accomplish this? I tried running component (red,green,blue) and audio (red and white) from the box to the AVR, then another set of component and audio cable from the AVR to the TV. I have to turn the volume up on the AVR to high very high level to get any sound. It also causes a loud "hiss". The AVR works great with CDs and FM - and at normal volume settings. I replaced all the cables but I'm getting the same results. I checked a bunch of other posts but can't seem to find the answer.

Should I be running the HDMI straight from the box to the TV and then the audio from the TV out to the AVR?

Sorry, I seem to be missing the basics on this!

If it matters, I plan to purchase a Blu-Ray in the near future.

Is the variable audio output on your cablebox turned way down?

Press the volume up key on the cablebox remote (make sure to turn down the receivers volume first)

I'm confused. Why aren't you running an optical digital audio cable from the HD cablebox to your receiver??? Don't go through the TV first!

I would guess that he might want to watch TV without having to turn on the 'system'...

But you do bring up a good point, you need to run a digital connection to your receiver (along with the analog) to be able to get the most of your digital cablebox.

Thanks for the responses. All of this is pretty new to me. I didn't know about adjusting the volume on the cablebox or using an optical digital audio cable to the receiver, along with the analog audio cables. I'll try both and see what happens.

As far as the other cables, I should still run the HDMI from the box to the TV? What else should be running from the receiver to the TV? The ARCAM owners manual mentioned an on-screen menu so I'm assuming on need to run some component cable bewteen the two, since the AVR300 doesn't support HDMI.

Thanks again for your help!

I recommend running HDMI from the cable box to the TV and an optical audio connection from the cable box to the AVR. (Do not try optical from the TV out to the AVR because most TVs will limit that output to stereo.) A direct HDMI connection will likely give you better video than you will get from analog component routed through the AVR. HDMI to the TV will also enable you to listen the TV speakers without turning on the receiver if you want. When using the AVR for audio, just mute the sound on the TV.

Use the same approach for Blu-ray - HDMI to the TV and audio to the AVR. If you get a Blu-ray player that can decode the new lossless codecs internally, you will want to use multichannel analog connections to your AVR instead of an optical connection. Optical won't give you lossless audio.

The volume on the cable box was already turned up all the way and I added the optical cable. The volume is now higher than it was before but I still need to turn the receiver's volume pretty high to reach a decent listening level, compared to the level I use when listening to CDs. I can still hear a "hiss" from the speakers since it's turned up that high. Some other posts mention that the volume levels will fluctuate, based on the source. I'll keep playing with it.

Thanks for the help!

What you describe is not normal.

How's the volume on the TV if you connect the cable box directly to the set without going through the AVR? If the optical connection to the TV produces low audio too, then the problem is not in the AVR. It's likely the cable box.

Also, have you compared your CD player and cable box using the same input on the AVR? Try swapping the inputs between the two devices to see if the problem moves.