FRUSTRATED in Indiana. Please help me.

[Sandblastdude]

Let me begin by saying I truly dislike hooking up and dealing withAudio video equipment because it is SO difficult for me. Well, after reading this forum I went to the store and bought (2) HDMI cords and I already had a Sony AVR (STR-DG510) with DTS Dolby Digital.
All of my components are hooked up to my receiver using RCA jacks except for my CD player which I used the 2nd HDMI cord for.
Components include;
Sylvania DVD player
JVC VCR
Sony CD Player
Antenae rotating box

I connected all of my speakers (6) including my sub.
and I hooked an HDMI cord "OUT" from my receiver to the "IN" to my "TCL" flat screen TV.

It is NOT a 'smart' TV and has no audio outs but I was so hoping this would work. It did not however and my family and I had to watched another (2)movies with mediocre (at best) sound from the Tv speakers
Can somebody please tell me where I went wrong?

Must I have a digital optical out in order for it to work?
I don't have an optical cord and I'm not even certain my AVR has one of them.

I too will REALLY appreciate help getting this resolved.
Many thanks!

Dan & Family (in Indiana.)

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Were you having issues with a DVD/VHS tape, or playing from a TV channel?

 

[Jake Lloyd]

What are you using to plug the DVD player into the sony receiver?

 

[americanaudiophile]

The only component you have that could have HDMI is the DVD player so if that is connected to the receiver through HDMI you should get sound and picture if the receiver has been set up correctly.
The VCR would connect with composite video & analog audio (L/R RCA cables). If your receiver will not upconvert the video output of the VHS to HDMI you will need an additional connection to the get video for that to the TV.
The CD player could connect to the receiver with a digital cable if it has that output but otherwise would connect with analog audio.
If your TV has no audio outputs there is no way to get sound from the internal tuner into the receiver. It is not apparent that an optical cable would do you any good.