What happens when you run the HDMI cable into the home theater, delete the optical cable entirely, and run an HDMI from the home theater to the TV?

Speakers have fascinated me for years.  There are endless variations of sizes, ports, numbers and styles of drivers, internal bracing and design, as well as other designs that don't use the traditional box enclosure at all.  Unfortunately, it's getting harder and harder to visit a variety of stores and to hear speakers side by side in a good sounding environment.   I suspect that there are a number of theater-in-a-box solutions that sound good, but I literally cannot recall ever seeing one actually set up in a store so that you can listen to them properly.

My personal preference with speakers is to go with a brand that truly specializes in them.  Companies like Infinity, Paradigm, Monitor Audio, PSB, Axiom, Aperion, and Energy have products that get a wide variety of favorable reviews.  I've owned a few of these brands, and auditioned others, and have been impressed by all that I've heard.  Some of the companies who sell direct to the consumer will give you your money back if you're not satisfied.  With specialized companies, they spend time doing research, putting out a number of different lines, and make enough speakers that their new technologies and materials make it down into their lower priced models within a reasonable amount of time.  

The best advice I can give is to say that, no matter what you buy, or how much you spend, placement of the speakers will make a huge difference in how they sound in your room.  Some speakers really require being placed kind of far from a back wall in order to sound their best.  Others may be designed to hang on the walls themselves.  Take the time to experiment with placement, and maybe invest in a sound meter and a setup disc to balance the sound.   Bad placement can really take a toll on even the best speakers, and good placement will help any product sound its best.

What Tim said. If at all possible, use HDMI for everything. But, just having checked the specs for that HT system, it looks like it doesn't have an HDMI in, so you're definitely stuck having to use Digital Optical. According to page 15 of the manual, you'll need to use the Digital In-2 on the receiver, and also set HDMI Output to Off (in setup), which will prevent the sound from going to the TV, and instead be coming directly from the receiver. Picture should be transmitted through HDMI directly from the Motorola STB to the TV.

Hi David,

When your TV is set to HDMI 1, your Receiver should be set to Digital In 2 (Cable/Sat). As long as that HDMI Sound is set to Off on your HT system, it should only pass the video signal through the HDMI cable towards your TV and sound should come from your HT system. Of course, be sure you're watching something that's broadcast in Surround :)

here is also something that's mentioned on page 30 which may apply to your situation:

Select to suit the type of audio from the DIGITAL AUDIO IN

terminals on the main unit.

Press [STATUS].

Press [AUDIO].

TV, "D-IN 2" input is automatically

selected.(

Glad to help! Go enjoy your new Panasonic goodies! There are plenty of recommendations mentioned in the various threads that will provide great showcases for your new Surround sound system :)