wildchyld,

What you want to do is use the optical from the back of the surround sound source (such as the new DVR) directly into the HTS, and use the HDMI to run the picture into the television. That's probably going to be your most optimal solution.

The television will not pass 5.1 from HDMI through the television's optical out, so you'll want to run those from source to HTS.

Hope that helps!

--HDTech