Why am I only getting sound from one speaker when attempting to listen to cable tv in surround sound?

Question

I have a Sony HT-DDW700 and a television with no output jacks. I don't have a cable box in my basement, despite io digital cable service. I'm assuming that its a different signal than the one from the box in my living room. So I have the RF cable from the wall to the VCR, an RF cable from the VCR to the tv, and audio RCA cables from the VCR to the a/v receiver. Yet when I listen to the channel, I only get sound from one of the speakers, front left I believe, and the subwoofer.
Is this because some channels aren't broadcast in surround sound, or maybe there's a problem with the way I have it connected through the VCR, or maybe I should only have a video cable going from the VCR to the tv rather than an RF cable?

Any help is greatly appreciated, as I am trying to get it hooked up before the Giants game this weekend. Thank you.

Answer 1

Check to be sure that your MTS or SAP have not been selected. This is for secondary audio (ie. some channels broadcasting in spanish and english). Be sure that the selection is in Stereo mode.

Answer 2

Surround (5.1) sound is transmitted only in digital broadcasts.
Even then you may just get stereo.
Since there is no set-top box in the picture, unless you have a VCR with a digital tuner (which I doubt), there is no way for you to get any surround sound, especially with audio RCA cables.
To get surround sound you need a s/pdif cable (coax or optical) from your receiver (a TV with a digital tuner or a set-top box)

So obviously there is a either a bad cable or some bad input/output.

Try to connect the TV signal directly to the TV. Do you get both channels? Then the problem is with the audio cables or the VCR.

Try reversing the red/white cables, do you get sound now from the right (bad cable) or from the left again (bad output from VCR)

Check that all connections are secure.

By the way, the RF cable carries both video and audio so no need to connect audio cables. An S-Video cable may give you better quality than RF

Answer 3

The way standard surround sound is incoded if you have a mono signal it will only come from the center channel, try simulated surround it you have the option, FYI, it will not very good at all.