iMac Aluminum + Logitech Z-5500 speakers, how?

[Xer]

Hey =]

I bought an iMac Aluminum few weeks ago and I just received my brand new Logitech Z-5500 speakers few minutes ago.

The problem is that I noticed the iMac doesn't have an Optical audio out which means, no 5.1, only stereo available.
The speakers are connected to the headphone jack at the moment, they sound great but I would want to use the whole potential

Is there a way I can run those speakers in full surround 5.1? I heard something about optical cable, but the iMac doesn't have such port.

What can I do?

Thanks

 

[ErikJenkins1187]

Inside of the audio jack there is a TOSLINK optical connection, you need to get a special TOSLINK cable adapter to use it.

Like this:

Amazon.com: QVS FCTK 10-Foot Toslink to Mini-Toslink Adapter Cable: Electronics

 

[Xer]

Inside of the audio jack there is a TOSLINK optical connection, you need to get a special TOSLINK cable adapter to use it.

Like this:

Amazon.com: QVS FCTK 10-Foot Toslink to Mini-Toslink Adapter Cable: Electronics

First of all thank you very much for your reply!

And after I purchase that cable, will the system work in full 5.1 surround?

 

[B&O]

If the source is 5.1 I guess so. 99% of music won't be.

 

[Xer]

If the source is 5.1 I guess so. 99% of music won't be.

It's mostly for music, if not only for music, is there even a reason to make an effort and get an optical cable like the one ErikJenkins1187 has suggested?

 

[ErikJenkins1187]

If the music is encoded and mixed in 5.1, it will be 5.1, but I think what he is getting at is the fact a normal audio CD is usually PCM 2.0 stereo at best. DVD audio usually have 5.1 or DTS Digital, but a normal CD will be stereo only. Usually, because of the way surround sound receivers decode data, you will pick up a phase difference in the surround speakers sometimes, IE some erroneous sound.

 

[aeiou]

As long as you have surround speakers, you might as well get that adapter. Even with sources that are stereo only, you can set it to upscale it to 5.1. This is not the same as true 5.1, but you will have sound coming from all of the speakers and it will "surround" you if you have the speakers set up right.

Another option if your speakers were analog only connections is the griffin firewave. Its a firewire sound card with 5.1 output. I got it on sale from Griffin for just $20.
Griffin Technology: FireWave

 

[dtravis7]

Logitech z-5500 and macbook - Notebook Forums and Laptop Discussion

TOSLINK cable with a mini-optical adapter.