20" iMac's speakers + store-boughts?

I think my 20" iMac has great sound....but of course I wouldn't mind more....

Is there any way to hook up speakers (store-bought....most likely from guitar center) that play along with my internal iMac speakers?

Thanks everyone.

You of course can plug in other speakers, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack at the back of the iMac, so as long as you buy some speakers that can use a 3.5mm jack it will work. but it shall mean that the internal speakers are no longer used.

Gaz said:

You of course can plug in other speakers, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack at the back of the iMac, so as long as you buy some speakers that can use a 3.5mm jack it will work. but it shall mean that the internal speakers are no longer used.

Click to expand...

Thats what my question basically is....can external and the internal speakers be used to for example, listen to the same song?

No, not together. You choose one or the other. A decent set of external speakers (Bose Companion II V3/V5, Harmon Kardon Soundsticks 2, or others) Would whoop the iMac speakers any day. The internals would switch off as soon as you plug speakers into the 3.5 mm jack.

Alex

I have a set of Klipsch Promedia 2.1's plugged into my iMac. The difference is night and day. No internal speakers with externals plugged in and trust me you will not miss them. They are not bad for their small size but any good externals will sound MUCH better.

another suggestion

i guess u got your answer from the other posts, i just wanted to add another suggestion, if you want to enjoy the surround sound (e.g in games or DVDs ) have a look at digital speakers with SPDIF inputs as iMacs speaker out jack supports them and it gives u great sound quality as well as control over all connected speakers.
you can google Logitech Z 5500 as an example, I use them and they sound great.

I believe the OP is looking into studio grade Monitors . I'm looking to do the same thing. IMO, I dont want the iMac speakers playing along. They would degrade the sound. Not that they sound bad, just that they would "muddy" the clear sound that your M-Audios or KRK's etc. are producing.

If I were not into guitar and music, I would just keep using the internals only. They are great for casual listening.