ok...I picked up a digital coax cable to go from my cablebox (motorola 3412 DVR box) to my reciever (Kenwood vr-505). The little light on the reciever is lit up "digital" but the display only shows the front left and right speaker is working...stereo...not 5.1 ....I know the reciever is capable of doing 5.1....I just dont know where I am going wrong at

ok...I picked up a digital coax cable to go from my cablebox (motorola 3412 DVR box) to my reciever (Kenwood vr-505). The little light on the reciever is lit up "digital" but the display only shows the front left and right speaker is working...stereo...not 5.1 ....I know the reciever is capable of doing 5.1....I just dont know where I am going wrong at

It means you are receiving Dolby Digital 2/0. FCC mandated that everything should
be digital. So this cable box acts as a digital tuner and accepts that digital audio
and put it on Dolby Digital 2/0. There's nothing wrong with it.

so will I be able to get 5.1 from my digital cable, or was it a misunderstanding on my part

If the signal coming from the cable is 5.1, your receiver should recognize it and you'll be able to get it.

so will I be able to get 5.1 from my digital cable, or was it a misunderstanding on my part
Yes you will get 5.1 from coaxial digital cable. Watch any CSI, American Idol, etc.
These shows usually have 5.1 Dolby Digital.

I just tried HBO and the light that indicates its digital was lit and the screen on the reciever said digital...but the only 2 speakers working are my front left and right...Armaggedon was playing and there were a few parts when I know the back channels should have been doing somthing....and no voice was coming out of my center channel...Is there a special way to setup my box .....

My cause for the past couple of months has been the number of programs Comcast carries that contain the 5.1 flag and are recognized by the receiver as 5.1, but do not in fact carry any info on the side surrounds. Sound on the rears may be heard in PL2X mode.

TNT never has actual 5.1, NBC has it sometimes, CBS usually, Fox sometimes. UHD ? (and we know BSG is 5.1)

Its not my AVR, its not the DVR (comcast replaced it three times before saying uh, we don't know. I've found one or two others who have the problem and found several more who have it but never noticed it.

Check it out. The guide shows 5.1, the program info 5.1, your receiver says 3/2.1 If you need a test, and INHD2 is still a logo w/music for you, the music is in 5.1.

The guide will sometimes say 5.1, but when the program is on the info screen will show DD, and that of course is OK, because we know some shows are not in DD 5.1

So before deciding if your have a receiver or a DVR problem, check out several shows that claim to have DD 5.1. If you get side surround info on any of them using just plain DD, it is not you and it is not the box. Complain to Comcast. They are pretending that it is not an issue.

I've got a feeling that it isn't DD2.0 but converted to 2 channel PCM. Your receiver should be able to tell you whether the signal is DD or not (is there a DD light?). Anyway, if it is PCM, you need to set your cable box to output DD.

Ed