She got a RX-V1700 for $269... holy crap what a steal! That receiver should pass audio to the tv no problems, but you have to tell it to output the audio in the setup menu. I think its under Manual Setup, Sound Menu, HDMI Set. It should say Support Audio RX-V1700, just change it to Other and that should send the audio to the tv.
It will be in the owners manual under the advanced setup section in the sound menu.