So I read what you last posted; and while looking at my schematic of connections I'd penned in on my copy of my downloaded owners manual for the TV: There it was: The digital audio from the TV to the Onkyo. So just for giggles, I looked at the back of the system, and there IT was: A direct digital wire from the cable box to the Onkyo.....woah; my bad! My bad! My grevious bad!!

And the reason came to me in a flash!! Our new HD cable box isn't the same as what I thought it would be when I penned(penciled, actually)in the connections, so I ended up not running the digital audio from the cable box thru the TV after all!!

....gotta change that wiring diagram....

But instead, I have a nice clean direct connection from the cable box to the Onkyo that dosen't give the TV the opportunity to muck up the signal!

Also interesting, as I'd noted earlier; the cable box analog through the TV IS augmented quite a bit! Hmmmmm.....

So...if you haven't already tried it....
Rich.