is there a way to use a bluetooth speaker with the imac while still using the imac speakers at the same time

Hi justinfromtyne and wear4,

I see you are a new user here in Apple Support Communities - welcome! I hope we find you contributing often in the future.

It is possible to use multiple devices for sound output simultaneously from your iMac, but you have to do a little bit of configuration first to make it work.

To get things started, pair your Bluetooth speakers with your iMac using the steps in this article - OS X El Capitan: Set up Bluetooth audio devices. In particular, the section titled Set up a Bluetooth audio device​.

1. Choose the device from the Bluetooth status menu () in the menu bar, then choose Connect.

   If the Bluetooth status menu isn’t in the menu bar, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Bluetooth, then select the “Show Bluetooth in menu bar” checkbox at the bottom of the window.

   Note: If you don’t see Bluetooth in System Preferences, your computer doesn’t support Bluetooth.

2. Follow the onscreen instructions to set up the device.

Next you need to create a multi-output device which includes both your iMac's speakers and your Bluetooth speakers. For this we use an application called Audio Midi Setup (found in /Applications/Utilities.) Use the steps in this help page - Play audio through multiple devices at once - Audio MIDI Setup Help

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

Sincerely.