Clueless about home theater...help?

[MikeyBC]

Now I know a bit about audio in general but have really fallen behind on the home theater scene in the past 10 -15 years and have tried searching this forum for the answer so i hope this doesnt sound stupid. I just aquired a used Teac AG-D9320 5.1 home theater receiver to replace my old rotel integrated in the basement. And I have a older cheap Sony DVP-NS300 dvd player (bought in 2001). it has coaxial and optical digital outs, what is the best mode to use with this player? DTS or Dolby Digital? What is the difference? I have all the speakers i require for surround and center channels.

[paul_pci]

Ignore the dts/dolby digital on the dvd player, except to ensure that the players settings will transfer both digital signals (for some players you actually have to turn on such a setting feature). When you connect either of the digital cables to the receiver, it will be the receiver that will be processing the dts/dd sound track. Therefore, you want to make sure that the receiver is dts/dd compatible. As for the other question, consensus states that typically, the dts soundtrack will sound better, but results will vary from movie title to title.