An update...
I finally sat down with the step by step from above and now everything is working great. I get great sound from the dish network signal, great sound when I play a CD through my DVD player, BUT... a DVD (yesterday I watched The Aviator) actually sounds really weak. If I set it on SIX CHANNEL stereo it sounds nice and full, but there seems to be no "surround" in the sound. Even the TV (Dish) has the good surround sound, but not the DVDs.
The other annoying thing that I can't seem to figure out is when I change from DVD to TV as the source, I have to walk to the box and actually change the DIAL to get the right input source. I can't seem to figure out how to do it from the remote control. I've read through the manual 3 or 4 times now, and I can't figure that one out.
