Television as source component

Years ago I bought the first Hi-Fi VHS VCR. It was a tank, but went through 3 loading mechanisms. Shortly there after stereo TV came to be. To keep up with the latest technology I bought a Recoton outboard stereo TV decoder. Everyone who heard it thought it was by far the best TV sound that they had ever heard. One minor draw back was that the extra cables required seemed to very slightly effect the picture in a negative way. One major draw back was that every time someone changed the channel a LOUD pop would be heard. The sound was worth the picture compromise, but I couldn't live with that pop.

instead of use TV as a source component I use
Cable TV box audio outputs connected to my pre amplifier.
I use RCA cable.My prefered cable for this purpose isOxyfuel inter connects solad on internet ebay for about 70 dollars.
The cable TV or satellite box got few settings
Compression.;No need to use it as it restricts the dynamic range
Set the cable tv box to optimal stereo level.
I nee no advantage in using matrix stereo.
The cable TV box is few years old.I cleaned the RCA jacks with De oxand it effectively removed the muck and oxidation.

Curbach - the quality of the audio you will get from your
TV's audio outputs will depend on the quality of the output
quality from your TV's or VCR's tuner. Some do a very decent
job; and others are just plain bad. And amazing but true -
the cost of your set or VCR often has little to do with the
qulaity of audio you get.
I'm currently using a two year old Sony 32" TV/Monitor -
the model just below the XBR series - and while the picture
is great (I set it up, as I own a video editing studio) - the audio quality is just so-so. On the other hand, I used
to have an 10 year old RCA Colortrac; and the audio was
wonderful.
So look around, and seriously listen to some sets. Also,
keep in mind that some networks - such as ESPN, TNN, and
CBS tend to have better sound than others.

I fed my RCA 26" (from 1995) stereo tv variable line outputs into my computer soundcard a few years ago to capture two songs from the Burt Bacharach special that came on TNT (Turner Network TV.) The sound was outstanding !!! I was very suprised. I'm not sure if TNT always has good audio? I know that VH1 and MTV have terrible audio.