Getting 5.1 surround on PS3

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by Makall

Say I have 5.1 surround sound speakers and I want to use it with the PS3 through optical. Is the only way to use them by getting a $300+ HDMI receiver?

I'm not a audiophile so I don't care about quality that much, but do I need to spend another couple hundred to get surround sound for my PS3?

Thanks.

Depends on your surround system. Check on the back of the unit that your speakers are connected to. If it's a DVD player that means you purchased a Home-Theatre-In-A-Box. On the back of that unit where the speakers are attached you need to see if there is an "OPTICAL INPUT" jack of some sort. If there is, you only need to get the optical cable and you are set. If there isn't an "OPTICAL INPUT" jack on the back of the unit, you are stuck with stereo (red & white RCA cable) and maybe a faked Dolby Pro Logic surround field - this means that the system will try its best to guess what the rear speakers should sound like by using the stereo signal. In that case, you'll need to get a receiver.