oh does it really matter if the rca coaxial I am using to plug into the digital audio on the box is a red one and not the orange one?
This is slightly difficult to grasp, but I'll give it a shot.
If you plugged your speakers to the Audio In Jack on the Acer, then of course you will not get sound! That is for audio IN, not audio OUT!
The color of the cable won't matter at all. However, if the output on the box is orange, then I believe this is a digi audio out. You need to convert the digi out to analog and then plug it into your speakers. Some speakers will have a digi in that will handle this for you.
How is the box hooked to the Acer right now? Only HDMI?
Does the "box" have red/white for L/R outs or not?
The last post you did, won't work either. You must get an analog signal to the speakers and you are instead feeding it digi.
Edit:
Don't double post the same thread in different areas. That is LESS likely to get you help and MORE likely to give you a bad rep.