I have an insignia 19" lcd tv and would like to get surroud sound while watching tv.?

Question

I have a Kawasaki 5 disc dvd surround sound system and it has Audio in jacks (red and white) and my tv has Audio Out jacks. So i was told to buy RCA (red and white) audio cable to plug one into the other and i would get surround sound while watching tv. I did so and i dont get any audio throught the surround sound speakers. Im lost and confussed b/c ive been trying to do this for some time now. I have the surround sound set on a function of AV IN (matrix, there are other options like dolby pro, music, movie, or bypass) not sure what that should be set on. The tv also has Digital audio oput options (Raw , PCM or OFF) not sure what that should be set on also. Any help would be appreciated ! Thank you

Answer 1

I am considered a home theatre expert and even I was confused by the other answers.  Let me try to make it simple for you.  

To get surround sound you need a digital connection from the source (cable box, dvd player) to the receiver.  If you only have a red and white connection then you only have stereo (this is 2 speaker, left and right only)  Some recievers have the ability to take in a stereo input and guess for the surround sound.  This is dolby prologic or dolby prologic II.  It is just a guess on the part of the system, it generally sucks and pales in comparison to true surround sound.

If you do want true surround sound you would need to purchase a new system that has a digital input for surround sound.

Answer 2

if your surround system has either:

s/pdif (a single rca input, it would probably say "digital" next to it)

or optical (would also say digital, and would be a square shaped input with a cover on it)

you can connect your tv to one of those (and try raw and pcm)

if it doesn't you would need a new surround system

you won't actually get surround sound on your tv unless the input to your tv has it, so that stereo input might be the best you can get

if you have a tv with a cable card or a cable box you should get surround sound on certain HD channels at certain times

Answer 3

Some surround-sound systems have a synthesizer circuit to generate extra channels from a two-channel (stereo) source.  First, check the manual that came with your system to see if it can do this.  Second, make sure the channel you tune in to has stereo audio.  (A surround-sound synthesizer cannot produce additional channels from a monaural source.)  If you are getting sound from your main speakers but not from the rear speakers, then either the system doesn't have a synthesizer circuit or the TV channel is monaural.