I'm not an expert on that TV, but I can tell you the best way to hook-up your TV and Home theatre.
I highly doubt that you will be watching this TV without an HD source of some kind. Be it Cable Box, Satellite, DVD player, Blu-ray Player, Video Game console, ect... All these external sources have audio outputs. Run the audio output from the source to the surround sound system, not from the TV. You will have more control over your audio, and not risk the TV downgrading the sound below its standard.
The reason less TVs are including an audio output, is that due to thinner TV dimensions, and dropping prices, something has to go. As you get the best audio from the source, not the TV, audio outputs are becoming less important.
Your TV should be the final place that the signal ends up. It shouldn't be an intemediate step between the source and the surround sound system.
I understand some Home Theatre in a Box systems (HTiB) do not have enough audio inputs for all the things you may want to attatch to the TV. This is why Home Theatre in a Box systems are NOT something I reccomend. Instead look for a quality 5.1 or 7.1 channel reciever, and compatable speakers.
Just as an example, A Blu-ray player can output up to 7.1 channels of uncompressed, Master-quality audio via HDMI. If you were running that to the TV, and then back to a surround system via an optical cable, the TV would have to downgrade the signal to a lossy 5.1 dolby prologic signal, or 2 channel PCM signal. That is a significant reduction in available sound quality. NOT something you want to do.
I hope this helps you.
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