Audio with an HDTV with only digital audio output?

Why not go from the video source (CATV box/DirecTV box/DVD) directly into the amp and bypass the TV's audio?

Thanks - I thought of that, but can't get a straight answer from the cable company whether this will work. A second issue is how this would possibly work with multiple sources, e.g. TV, DVD, VCR, etc.

Every CATV box I've ever seen has analog outputs. You would need something to switch them tho', I agree. Couple options for you...

Could get a cheap, but decent, DAC like the ART DI/O and run the coax digital output from the TV into that, and then into the amps. The problem is that if the source is feeding a multichannel digital audio signal (DTS, Dolby), you will get noisy garbage.

An alternative might be something like the Audio Authority 1154, sold by www.copperbox.com. I use one to switch the video into my TV. It has four sets of inputs, which include component video (RCA X 3), coax digital (RCA), toslink digital, analog audio (RCS x 2), and svideo. You could run the outputs from your sources into that and then, instead of routing audio via the TV, run the analog outs from the 1154 to your amps. If you don't have composite video, you could always just use one of the component RCAs to switch composite video on RCA.

Two problems with the 1154. You would need to control the volume from each of your sources rather than the TV remote. The other problem is that the digital connections don't do you any good, since the 1154 doesn't convert digital to analog.