Klipsch 5.1 Ultras into C2D iMac

[velociti03]

pardon the ignorance, for i did search but couldn't find exactly the answer i was looking for.

i badly want to connect a set of klipsch 5.1 ultras to my iMac. im in the midst of getting an unopened set off of ebay. id go with the logitechs, but the klipschs just sound a heck of a lot better.

so i know the single miniplug input and output connecters are digital as well, but what external hardware do i need to plug in order to get true 5.1 out of the klipschs? i dont want to get a receiver, and i cant make out if i can use the creative ddts-1000 straight out of the box (it looked as if it required a proper sound card for it to work). so in short, with a 24" imac, and a set of klipsch 5.1 ultras with the generic 3 miniplug connections, what do i need to make them work? thanks, and again, pardon the ignorance.

 

[velociti03]

ps, if i was supposed to put this in periperals, i aplogize. thanks again.

 

[silbeej]

If the control unit for the speakers has an optical input then use a minitoslink optical cable. If it just has 3 headphone looking wires then not sure if you can get full surround sound, you might end up getting a splitter, but then it would just be stereo comming out of all the speakers.

 

[jroad]

Hi,

I have a Klipsch Ultra 5.1 setup hooked up to a Mac Pro. It was easy to get the full 5.1 experience in Windows, but on the Mac, I only use the 2 front channels. This isn't so bad, since I really only care for the surround channels when playing a game, and I do that on the Windows.
You may look into the FireWave. AFAIK, this only really adds surround to things like DVDs or other Dolby supported audio. I would guess most Mac games don't support it, but that is just a guess.

FWIW, I also have a set of Klipsch 2.1's on another system, and they sound great. In fact for 2 channel audio, they sound clearer and crisper then the Klipsch Ultra 5.1's to my ears.

So, since you say you don't want a receiver, you may think about saving money and go with 2.1.

Regards

 

[velociti03]

hey thanks. im likely to wind up using a firewave at this point. and about the 2.1's, I had a pair and they just weren't sufficient. The sub was anemic with any kind of volume, and chuffed and coughed at their bottom end. I have 4.1's now and they're pretty great in a dual stereo setup using a regular miniplug splitter. But having a true 5.1 setup with that sub...eish. as far as i've read, it's the benchmark in the realm of multimedia speaker setups. also, for what its worth, the firewave does itunes, quicktime, dvd player decoding and upsampling to 5.1 for stereo sources. it also has Open AL built in, so it takes care of games too, though I don't really play any. thanks.