Newbee needs 5.1 help with receiver

[larietrope]

I am new at this. I have a Pioneer VSX 501 5.1 receiver with 5 matching Sony speakers, (everything used because of budget).
My DVD player does have HDMI as does my Sony TV I bought last year.
I have a HDMI running from the TV to the DVD
Since my receiver doesn't have HDMI capability or digital coax capability, I ran a R/L audio cable from the TV (out) to the receiver (in)
I get good center and R/L sound movement from the fronts but when I do a speaker check, the two rear speakers come on together not separately. Thus I am not getting sound separation at the rear.
Is there anything I can do or is my receiver too old and I need a more modern one ?

 

[MDS]

How old is this receiver? If the surrounds are not discrete, then it most likely a ProLogic receiver and does not include matrix decoders like PLII that use separate left and right surround channels.

 

[JerryLove]

Confirmed: That is a pro-logic receiver. It is not a 5.1 receiver.
Prologic never took digital inputs and is technically 2.2 or 2.3 (two real channels, 3 extrapolated channels). I don't think it's in use any more.

Use it as a two-channel stereo.

 

[Adam]

Use it as a two-channel stereo.

I recommend using the Pro-Logic decoding for surround sound, just like the OP seems to be doing now.

 

[lsiberian]

I recommend using the Pro-Logic decoding for surround sound, just like the OP seems to be doing now.

Agreed the original pro-logic is very nice.

 

[JerryLove]

The original Pro Logic?

Really?

OK. I admit I haven't touched the thing (ProLogic I) since the early 90s. Maybe my memory is bad there. I retract my "use it as stereo instead" comment.