I've got another Denon AVR and yes, it sounds good. I would hope for the same from the cheaper Denon. I have to agree with you that I won't hear any difference in the sound using the Monitor 7 Polks. I would have loved to have gotten nicer speakers, especially given the size of the room. But my wife was dead set against any floor standers, so I was forced to go with large bookshelf speakers. I almost bought KEH IQ3's, but decided to go with the larger Polks instead, just due to room size.
I'm going to try the Emotiva once I get the Denon AVR. Just to compare the sound between the two. I've always heard you lose something going through 3.5mm. So I don't know that I'll get the full possibilities of the Emotiva with that adapter cord hookup. But worth a try at least. If I can't tell any difference (which I suspect I won't), then I guess I should sell the Emotiva and just use the Denon AVR. Or if they sound 'almost the same', maybe I can use the Denon for the mains and run deck speakers from the Emotiva. Probably resulting in blown deck speakers.
Thanks to both of you for your help. I would have never gotten to this point without it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!