Optical audio and surround sound speakers for my Mac Pro

In the back of my Mac Pro there's an in and out for Optical Audio. What is this and are there any surround sound speaker systems out there that will plug into it? Most surround sound speakers seem to require a PC-style triple-input, with three jacks (Green to front, Orange to centre and Black to rear channels). Very few surround sound systems have the additional option for a single headphone socket-style jack, and I'm not sure if they will work terribly well with this single connection.
Can anyone recommend some speaker choices, particularly in the UK, that will give me good surround sound from the optical audio or single headphone jacks? Many thanks.

You might want to look at a device called the Griffin FireWave: [http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/firewave]
It connects to your MacPro via firewire, and has the green/orange/black jacks out to a standard 5.1 speaker system.
It comes with a software application that lets you customize the sound, and also synthesize surround from mono, stereo, etc., sources.
It would definitely open up your choices for speaker systems. I'm using one with a Klipsch 5.1 Promedia set of speakers. Works and sounds great.

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(1) You will need a speaker set with an optical input...
* maybe try this--i think it's called an " HD audio rush " box and it converts digital to analog audio 5.1 supposedly-, you can look on ebay for similar things
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Hi there,
First of all, which Mac Mini do you have? A G4 or Intel? Does your PC surround sound system accept a digital input?
From gathering what you wrote, if the speakers only accept a left and right cable, then it is not a true surround sound system. You'd simply need a cable that splits the sound system into the left and right inputs such as this:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103865&cp=&origkw=audioy+adapter&kw=audio+yadapter&parentPage=search
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I'm writing this as my last ditch attempt to solve my problem.
Recently I bought a 5.1 Onkyo AV Receiver, model HT-R558 as for the audio output of my machine.
I have connected the device components, however when connected to my Mac using a TOSLINK cable, all i recieve is stereo sound through the front left, center, and front right speakers. - The rear speakers give no output, and the subwoofer only works in iTunes.
As far as I was aware the process was as follows:
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If anyone has any advice on correctly connecting surround sound to my Mac I would be extremely grateful! I only hope there is something I have overlooked.
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I know DVD Player can output 5.1 when set up correctly, so can iTunes movies; unfortunately this appears to be a problem that only has few solutions.
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I am closing this question.
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Thanks both of you for your help.
It doesn't mention either of those connections in the manual, however, yes you are right, it takes digital input. I'll have to call and check if the toslink cable is compatible.
I tried connecting the mini-stereo-to-RCA cable to my Nokia phone (which is actually where the cable came from) and that plays through the DVD speakers just fine, when i select AUX mode. Although, as you said, it only plays stereo.
Say the mini-toslink cable is compatible, would I need to get a 5.1 surround sound card for my MBP?
Thanks again.

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Optical audio and surround sound speakers for my Mac Pro

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