Are sound bars worth it?

@zimmerma 
I live near Montreal and I am a client of Videotron.
I have an old Illico module , with audio RCA outputs   , in the rear pannel.
I saw the same with newer Illico modules.
I do not know about the new Hellix modules.

so I am a bit supprised about the lack of these RCA outputs  on your Illico unit.

Your television may have a digital output that you may connect to you preamplifier for a less ´´ boomy ´´ sound than analog.
I just speculate about boomy and analog interconnect.

What outputs does it have?  Have you asked the cable company if they have other boxes available?  

I bought my girlfriend a ZVOX 2.1 "soundbar" (it has a subwoofer in it in addition to the two speakers) a few years ago and it sounds a lot better than the speakers in a TV.  She likes it, and I think it's OK when I visit, but I probably wouldn't have been satisfied with it for long if it was my system.  But most people would think my system is over the top.

Some of the higher end ZVOX speaker systems are pretty nice. They will accept a digital input from your cable box.

You could also likely output digital from your cable box into a simple, inexpensive DAC and out of the DAC via analog RCAs, into your pre-amp.

Thank you for these responses.

Maxwave: I have the Helix base, which has no analogue outputs. You are correct about Illico's RCA outputs... but Videotr5on is phasing out that format, so Helix is the future for Videotron.... Thus no analogue outputs.

To the other responses: I am puzzled that today's TVs do not have RCA audio outputs, just inputs, which I do not see the point of. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.

I have yet to try an adapter cable that takes the TV's headphone output to the preamp's RCA input.... However, as cd318 notes, "The tricky part was finding the necessary setting you have to change on the TV menu to enable audio out."
He offers to try to find the settings for me... I would be grateful.

But, about those sound bars... No one has as yet offered an opinion about their efficacy.
   

@zimmerma 

So, I am at a loss how to get the audio signal from my TV to my preamp

 Does the cable box, or TV, have digital output? I’m guessing one of them, or both, do have digital output. Just get a DAC, connect the DAC via a digital cable (optical or coax) from the cable box, or TV, and analog RCA cables out of the DAC, into your pre-amp.

Do you know what a DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) does? It would seem to be a perfect solution to get a digital signal out of your TV, into your pre-amp..

You can find DACs starting at about $10 on Amazon. If you want to step up to an "audiophile approved" DAC, the Shiit Audio Modi starts at just $99 and has a money back return policy.

https://www.schiit.com/products/modi-1