Does Apple TV 2 support 5.1 surround sound?

Hi,

I am planning to get an Apple TV 2 for my home entertainment system, but have a few questions that I would like to confirm:

1. Does Apple TV support true 5.1 surround sound why using it for streaming music and video contents (assume that the Audio & Video file used are encoded with 5.1). I have seen some contradictory information online regarding this, some say it does not output ture 5.1 surround sound.
2. Will this setting ok to give me the maximum quality of sound and picture: Connect Apple TV 2 to audio receiver using HDMI cable, then connect the receiver to a TV using another HDMI cable (just like the setting that I use for my playstation 3).

Thank you for your help,