Hi all...Here's the deal. Just got a Tivo (sony svr2000 30hr)and was setting everything up. When changing my VCR to input2 on the TV and watching cable through the VCR I heard pro-logic surround for the first time. When I go back to input1 and watch cable through cable box, my receiver says pro-logic but very little is coming out of surround speakers. There is a significant difference between the two inputs.

Here is my stuff:

JVC TV- 1 s-video, Input1&2, audio L&R

Sony str845 receiver

Sony Tivo svr-2000 2 component out, 1 component in, s-video in/0ut

Panasonic VCR- coax in/out, component in/out

scientific atlantic cable box- coax in/out

Sony DVD that is not involved in this set up.

What I want to do is watch TV through the VCR while the Tivo is recording. I can do that now and I get great sound. The problem is when I go back to watching Tivo and/or cable I loose the pro-logic effect.

please help

First of all I presume you are refering to composite in/out WRT the TiVo and VCR as neither come with component connections.

Secondly I find it hard to believe that you could have heard Dolby Surround even through the VCR as you cable box only supports coax which AFAIK only supports mono and stereo sound sources. In order to get Dolby Surround in the first place you cable box would have to have composite audio out.

Thirdly even if the coax connection could pass a Dolby Surround source the TiVo cannot convert a sound source that is being input into it using a coax connection, into surround. The only way a TiVo can output surround sound is if the sound coming into it is using a composite audio connection, as opposed to a coax connection. I believe the same applies to VCR's.

I hope all this makes sense and has not confused you. Post a reply here if you have any other questions.

Would it be possible to describe how your various components are connected to one another? It isn't clear to me from your first post. Using a coax connection shouldn't prevent you from hearing Dolby ProLogic, because coax supports stereo sound, which is all ProLogic is. I don't know about using the Tivo, but as far as the VCR and cable box go, I think I can help you figure things out.

Sure sh4ft....

coax cable from wall---->into 2 way spliter
spliter1--->VCR coax input
spliter2--->cable box coax input

VCR coax out--->TV coax input
VCR red,white,yellow rca's--->TV input2

Cable box coax out--->Tivo coax input
Tivo red,white,yellow rca's--->TV input1
TV red&white rca's out--->a/v amp

hope that is clear....thanks for your help

okay, i'm stumped. unless your cable box is somehow converting the audio to mono (in which case you'd get nothing from the surrounds), i don't know what's happening. you could try hooking the cable box up to your vcr, and leave the vcr-tv connection as it is to see if it is a problem caused by the cable box. as far as the tivo goes, like i said, that's unfamiliar territory for me.

That would be my guess as to what is happening. The cable box is surely outputting only mono sound. Many coax outputs do this.

Here's a similar story. I had a VCR connected to my TV via coax cable. I had my VCR as well as the TV connected to the receiver separately.
For television shows through VCR r/l, I get surround.
For television shows through TV r/l, I get surround.
However, if I played a VHS tape, I'd get surround sound from the VCR r/l outputs but not from the TV r/l outputs because the VCR only sent a mono signal through the coax output. WTF??? So if I watched a tape I had to use the VCR r/l output.

I suspect the cable box is doing something similar when it descrambles the signal -- it only outputs a mono coax cable signal. I bet if you remove the cable box, you will find that everything works fine when it doesn't pass through the cable box.

You probably have the Panasonic VCR in "3D spacializer" mode on. This mode greatly expands the sound field.

Prologic on the TV isn't all that great. And, only a few programs use it. Most TV is still either really wimpy stereo or mono.

Shazam, you're exactly right. I checked last night and 3D spacializer was on. It sounds great for TV (it's no DD/DTS obviously). Do you know if there is anyway I can run the r/w audio rca's from my Tivo through the VCR to take advantage of the 3D spacializer? My VCR has 2 inputs and 1 output.

Thanks