I noticed you posted some info about the iSight webcam awhile back. I just got one on ebay however having only one firewire plug on my macmini I cannot use it at the same time as I'm using my MyBook external harddrive which uses the firewire plug. Can you tell me if you know of a way to add a second firewire plug to the macmini?

Happy Birthday, Youngster!

Hi Vexel, FYI JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN'T NOTICE MY FINAL POST, here's a copy: To everyone who provided advice and information and who might still be interested in the outcome... as advised I purchased a good quality 35 mm cable and connected my macmini directly to my stereo system amplifier. Even though the speakers on my stereo need to be upgraded to provide the level of sound I'm looking for, this one step has permitted me to return the Bose Computer speakers to Costco and is providing higher quality sound than I was getting using the Bose speakers attached to my computer. This has proven to be the best and most economical solution. Thanks for all the help!!

I want to watch videos and movies etc on my TV (instead of on my PC) so your reply suggests to me that I should just be forwarding all sound to the sound system rather than to a pc based sound system. Exit the need for better speakers for the sound system so I won't buy the Logitech 5300 5.1 system - reminding me of the suggestion to stick with 2.1 anyway. I've just been re-reading all the posts in the thread. I'd forgotten half of what was there and didn't "get" a lot of the other half).
Most recommendations were to stick with 2.1 speaker systems on the Mac Mini (especially the one I have) which has only an 8bit internal Sound Card and depend on my Sound System for listening to music.

It's way too long 4000 characters. Is there somewhere I can post a message that big here?

1 Z5300s owner said the input on the subwoofer needs three plugs so I'll have to get an adapter for the Mac mini. He said it's a Gryphon Firewave using Firewire. He saw one on ebay for $41 and was researching this through EhMac.

2 My receiver has RCA inputs - no optical.

3 When I sending videos/films/tvshows from the Mac to TV (later) does it make sense to just let the audio play on the Z5300 system or to send it to the sound system instead or use both? Or, would having the sound coming through both be unnecessary and nonsensical?

Thanks for all your help, Vexel. I hope I will be able to help you out with something someday. Hmmm I should send you the H1N1 battle plan my friend sent me.

I'll send it in a separate window...

PCF

Now, I still want to return the Bose Companion 2 speakers to Costco and,as directed by Gord and Digit, connect my Mac directly to the receiver. Now I'm wondering what it would be like to get an external sound card (my son said he got one for me that will only do 2.1) and the Z5300s for $100 if they are still available - for the Mac Mini and then split the connection wires (if it's possible) so I can also plug into the stereo sound system. Would that give me an acceptable alternative to 5.1 sound? The speakers which I still haven't been able to identify - They're just huge black boxes with receptacles to plug into but no writing of any kind that I've been able to find anywhere - and they sound pretty good... but not as good as the JBLs sounded on my son's surround sound system. If that all works out OK I'll look at upgrading the stereo speakers to something (that you will probably advise me to get) later. Now I'm all ears...

You were right, however, I wasn't clear on the concept that speakers for Mac are not also usable as speakers for the Sound System (I thought it was just a matter of adapters) so when you started talking to me about sound system and Mac in the same breath (sort of) I wasn't differentiating between the two. Then GordGuide and seconded by others including Digitdog made interesting suggestions about connecting directly to my receiver and then I found the Z5300s which seemed like the answer with me seeing them as replacing, or accompanying, my noname 4ft tall sound system's stereo speakers. So then I thought I could just connect the Z5500s to my sound system (instead of or as well as the existing speakers) after attaching the Mac to the sound system receiver. ...more coming...

Can you answer this question for me? It's about the Z5300 (used) speakers I'm still considering. I thought these were speakers meant to be used on a sound system, however based on something the Seller said to me now I'm not so sure that's true - he said: "The Z-5500/Z-5300 are probably the best discrete 5.1 speaker systems you can buy that are specifically designed to be used with your computer on a desk." So this seems to be telling me that they don't work with the sound system. Is this true? I was under the impression that the Z5500s or z5300s would replace the speakers now connected to my sound system. However, it seems I had it all wrong and the Z5300s will only replace the Bose speakers now connected to my MAC. It's definitely helping my grey matter to produce new brain cells to try to get all this straight - and I am definitely starting to understand more than before thanks to you and the other EhMac Audiophiles.