Sound like you have your "in" and "out" mixed up...and you do not need a new receiver to make it work. Do this: Dish box to TV = HDMI cable Receiver "in" to Dish box "out" = Optical or digital coax. Receiver "in" to DVD "out" = same as above or RCA white/red. This will get the sound through the receiver. Also program your dish remote to work with your receiver. There should be a code or something in your manual. This will eliminate that second remote.

I'll add something here. Whether it can be avoided or not, do NOT run any of the audio wiring in the same holes as the electrical. It's not a matter of "some interference may be heard". It's a matter of a 60 cycle hum WILL be heard. If you must run paralell, as stated above, separate by at least a foot, preferably more. And do cross at 90 degrees, that is absolutely correct. As I tell my guys? "Drill new holes you lazy ****" (said in fun of course). By the way. Make sure the "stereo wire" that you install is actually meant for the purpose (16 gauge twisted as opposed to lamp cord/zip cord). Also ensure that it is rated for inwall use. That IS important.

Sometimes I feel it is kinda like a TV in the room....why bother trying to hide it? It is what it is - it is part of life especially if men are in the house. There are so many things I would do differently if my DH weren't in this house but he is so I have a very masculine den ~ makes him happy. He doesn't ask for much and puts up with me!! LOL He considers his speakers works of art - I wanted to have an ET designed to hide his speakers (I did atleast get the 24"cube subwoofer hidden) but he wouldn't hear of it. He also likes to see his components. Perhaps a box built around the speakers with speaker cloth or metal grill painted the same color as the walls? The sub could go in a basket or you could put it under a table or something. Smiles:)

Don't fall into the trap of paying through the nose for fancy-dancy speaker cables, provided the wire you are using is of the correct gauge (and there's nothing wrong with going heavier) there is no benefit in these 'premium' cables, they don't add anything. I was in the video/film/audio trade most of my life and you do not see such cables ANYWHERE so they won't be part of the original production, as for fancy power cables or 'interconnects' remember inside your amp/player etc will be a fibreglass circuit board, with copper tracks that are then tinned with solder, and the wires, components etc are soldered in, too. Speakers do not, as a rule, have 'special' cable inside them so i really wouldn't waste the money, since you are not talking about an unbroken chain of these premium cables, there is a lot of ordinary material inbetween and all the professionals and experts I've heard from have seen no demonstrable benefits from them in their studies. Trust me, pros spend a lot on their gear, and if they thought those cables would do something, they'd use them. The only remotely fancy thing I can think of is on my Tannoys, there is a provision to separate the speaker connections so there is a separate run for the woofer and tweeter, I can see some argument in favour of that - although it too may be a gimmick. I don't know if some amps have separate outputs for the woofers/tweeters, or if the separate wires join at the amp, perhaps obviating the idea in the first place. I'm not saying that we should buy all our cables at the dollar store, and with video and rf of course there are different standards of course, coax being the standard for the most part, however, the benefits of better cables over the dollar store variety will be more from the construction and material standards rather than design considerations for the most part. Longevity might be a benefit of better cables, but don't go overboard. Follow the code, as others say.