No stereo audio on Cable TV

[YamahaFreak]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

Did you get a chance to do these tests yet, and if so, did you get stereo audio from any devices and/or any of their outputs that I described?

Also, this "digital adapter" that does give you stereo sound... How does it work? That is, when it is connected to a TV set, how are channels selected/changed, in/on the box itself or with the TV set's tuner? Is it in fact connected to the TV set only with a screw-on cable/F-type connector?

I have not had the opportunity to swap the boxes around yet. The Digital Adapter works like a regular cable box in that you change channels using its own remote, and it is connected to your TV using (depending on the TV) either an HDMI port or a coaxial jack...there is no in-between, or any other connection options. Ours was connected with the coax jack, because the TV is a 27-inch CRT without HDMI. Recently, the cable company sent us a standard cable box to replace the Digital Adapter for this TV, and this cable box is now connected to the TV via composite RCA video and audio jacks. (Red, white, yellow) I'm not sure right now if we get stereo audio through that one, but if it's the same as the other two (and I'm sure it is) it will now be mono audio as well.

[YamahaFreak]

UPDATE: When the Digital Adapter was replaced with a regular cable box, it killed the stereo audio. This is definitely a problem with these boxes.

[Jeffhs]

I do not have stereo sound on my service, but Spectrum does not consider the service as cable; in fact, several representatives I have spoken to have informed me I do not have cable, since the service does not use a box, yet it offers almost every channel their standard cable service does. Spectrum calls this "streaming" service, which suits me to a T in more ways than one; for example, I am paying much less for this service than I formerly paid when I had standard cable with a box. I live on a fixed income, so this is very important to me.

Stereo sound on cable TV, stereo FM, stereo records and stereo tape is all but lost to me, as I am practically deaf in one ear (caused by a brain injury at birth which affected the entire right side of my body). That is, I have some hearing in my right ear, but the brain injury I mentioned messed it up so badly I might as well be totally deaf in that ear. Because of this, I have absolutely no use for stereo sound on my TV service or even on my Aiwa stereo audio system.

BTW: However, if you are having issues with stereo sound on your cable hookup, I would inform the cable operator of this since, if you are paying for stereo sound on your cable, you should be getting it. It doesn't seem right to me, either, that you lost stereo sound when the cable box was replaced. The box you had, after all, was giving you stereo sound, so there is no reason (that I know of, anyway) why the box the cable operator replaced it with should not provide stereo audio as well, unless the replacement is an older box with standard (monophonic) audio outputs. Why was your original cable box replaced in the first place if your cable service was working normally, except for the stereo audio issue?