RUNNING POWERED SPEAKERS FROM AN IMAC

I got really great sound from my IMac by using the Audioquest DragonFly USB Dac and then I come out of the Dac with the 3.5mm (as Sfar mentioned).
I use high end cables that feed my Audio Engine 5+ speakers and Sub.

+1 Lak. The use of an outboard DAC would make for a significant sonic improvement over the headphone jack output. At $129 new the AQ is one of the least expensive.

Ok, so did this and it does work BUT I am hearing quite a lot of static from the speakers. I did not hear this in my office where the speakers used to be, and there was a laptop between them.
Any suggestions audio wizards?
Thanks in advance.

Do you have a source other than the iMac, an mp3 player or laptop, with a headphone jack you can plug the cable into? That would tell you whether the static is coming from the iMac or the cable/speakers.

If the static is still there with a different source you might move that setup to a different location to see if there's interference from something else in your computer room.

The object is to isolate the variables one at a time until you discover the problem.

Thanks Sfar: When used with my iPad mini, the static is pretty much gone. When I take the cable out of the iMac I can really hear the static. When I plug it back into the iMac, the static is back especially when scrolling through different internet sites. Always a low static but crackly sounding when moving anything with the wireless mouse.

Is this something that would be resolved by using something like a usb dac (Audioquest v.2 Dragonfly) as it would be plugged via usb port? I read where this device can really cut down on noise?
Thanks again for your help.
Cathy