I gather this is kind of an experiment to see if you like having your music in digital form on a computer. Lot of folks like that - you can make up playlist just like mixtapes in the old days.
Like an infinite record changer with no wear issues ...
There is similar stuff for the PC - I am not being mac-centric - its just how I built mine.
I wound up doing mine with a Mac Pro (thats like a tower type PC).
I did have a mac mini at one point, but like the Pro/tower better.
I do have it in my office, with a keyboard, mouse and monitor right there.
I have an external case with hard drives, connected by eSATA
(but I have a friend that has the same thing connected by USB)
I rip all my CDs in Apple Lossless format to that hard drive - and can play it locally, or use the Mac Wifi to stream it around the house to other rooms,like to the parlor downstairs with the integrated Jolida tube amp and the Magnepan IIcs and sub.
Or to the other room downstairs with the UREI speakers and the B&K power amps.
Or to the back porch where I have a 3rd wifi receiver that feeds a boombox ...
Or if I stick a wifi receiver in the bedroom, I could stream it there.
I have software on my iPhone that lets me use it as a remote control to pick album, artist, genre, playlist or whatever, from wherever I am sitting.
Of course, direct feed is better than a wifi link ...
and with that great system you have, it could be right there with your amps and maggies ...
Pretty sure the iMac is basically silent ... my mac mini was too ...
The great part about ripping your tracks to a external drive is you can do extensive/regular drive backups so you don't have to worry about drive failures,
and don't have to worry about having to rip all your music again.
Plus, if you decide to get a better/newer mac, you just move the drive to the new machine.