Can I get 5.1 channel sound from a Denon AVC-3000?

[dartagnon2400]

Hi.
I have a Denon AVC-3000, and I would like to get 5.1 channel sound from it. It is a home theater receiver/amplifier, so I assume that it can do this (i may be wrong, though). Right now, I'm using one of the included surround DSP (Surround Mode: Live), but the rear channels have a very annoying distorted squeaky noise because of the ProLogic (1, not 2) decoding. I experienced this before, when I used an internal decoder. I have access to a 5.1 channel signal, but I do not know how to connect it. This receiver is definitely not digital-ready (its about 13 years old), so I can't hook up a digital cable. On other home theater receivers, there is a "5.1 RCA Analog" hookup that has 4 RCA plugs, so as to get the 5.1 channel signal. I do not have these; each hookup that I can see only has 2 RCA plugs (some have 4, but 2 are for "input" and 2 are for "output"). My question is, am I doomed to listen to ProLogic sound decoding? I have the 5.1 channel sound, and the 5.1 channel speaker system, I just can't figure out how to get all 5 channels into the receiver. It seems odd to me that there would be a front left, front right, center, rear left, and rear right speaker hookup if this unit was never intended to receive those kind of signals. Thanks for any help!

[Woochifer]

If your receiver lacks six-channel analog inputs, then it cannot do 5.1. 13 years old would predate any kind of multichannel digital format available to consumers. Later on, there were a lot of receivers that were "Dolby Digital ready" and had the six-channel analog inputs, and required an external digital decoder.

The five channel outputs on your receiver are normal for a Pro Logic receiver. The Pro Logic decoder takes a TWO-CHANNEL signal and extracts the center channel and a MONO surround channel that gets sent to BOTH surround speakers. Altogether that's five channels coming from a 2.0 source with no subwoofer output.

That "annoying distorted" sound that you hear in the surround channels is probably there because you're decoding a signal that was not encoded for Dolby Surround/Pro Logic playback. If you watch a TV program or movie with the Dolby Surround symbol, then it was mixed for surround decoding. If not, then you're probably better off just listening to it in two-channel.