I have a LCD hitachi with all the bells and whistles as far as inputs. A comcast HDTV cable box and a A panasonic HTIB(i know but i got a steal on it) I know i can't get 5.1 on tv but how can i get sound through speakers). Reciever has Inputs: 3 stereo audio
Adam, That comcast box should have a digital audio output which you can use to feed the amp. Then you will get digital stereo, and even 5.1 on some channels.
Failing that, the box should also have analog R/L audio outputs which you can use to feed audio into the HTIB.