RUNNING POWERED SPEAKERS FROM AN IMAC

try a pair of headphones connected in that jack. is there still static?

or, it may be a faulty headphone jack on the imac...

Well, just tried my Momentums in the headphone jack - clear as a bell. Put the RCA/3/5mm cable back in with the powered speakers and the static is back.....could it be that my lovely Radio Shack cable is faulty???

Yes, it could be. Sounds like you diagnosed the problem :) Still look into that dragonfly. For the $, it's a solid improvement

Good, yes, it does seem as if you've isolated the problem to the Radio Shack cable. If you want to be sure that's the issue it might be worth it try a different cable, such as this one. The Monoprice cables are of excellent quality at reasonable prices and they ship the same day you order.

An external DAC would be the next step up and while I don't have any experience with the Dragonfly since I've always used the optical output on Macs, it has a great reputation.

Well got the new cable from Monoprice - it looks and feels more substantial than the Radio Shack one - unfortunately, the static is still there! Very frustrating.
On a happier note, got the latest version of the Audioquest Dragonfly and am really liking this. When you play music, the static is not really noticeable which is nice. Once you start scrolling the internet, static is back...

By the way is there a way to use the Dragonfly with headphones and iPhone at all? Seems I read that the iPhone doesn't have enough power, but using a powered hub would do the trick - anyone do this?

Thanks for all your help on this folks.