RUNNING POWERED SPEAKERS FROM AN IMAC

not sure if the outboard dac will fix your static issue but it might be worth a try and it will definitely improve the sound quality. if you have a high end dealer by you see if they'll let you try the dragonfly for a day or two, if not, see if they have a return policy, if not, buy one from audio advisor and return it if you don't like it :)

Im not savvy to computer audio... Is there a way to turn the volume up to the maximum level on the computer side and then use the speakers volume control to adjust the volume?

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

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

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