The setup is as follows: Standard coaxial output from cable box to HIFI VCR coax input. L/R output of VCR to L/R Video 1 input of Sony 895. Rear surround speakers work fine with video tape but not from cable box. Digital output from cable box to DVD coax input on 895 gives surround sound from cable box but not if the channel has only analog sound. Then there is no sound. Am I missing the proper way to hookup the components or setting the receiver?. Would digital assign help if I new what it was?.
Found the solution using a RadioShack Toslink/Coax signal converter #15-1228 . Coax output from cable box(Scientific Atlanta Explorer 4200) to the converter. Toslink output from the converter to the optical input of the receiver (SAT/Cable). That took care of the Dolby Digital audio output from the cable box. There are also analog L/R RCA outputs from the cable box that are now connected to the corresponding analog input of the SAT/Cable input of the receiver. That took care of the cable stations that have only analog sound. Works great.