AJZepp,

Glad to be of some help. As you probably know, the two DACs you are looking at use variations of the the PCM1704 DAC but the Monarchy is supposed to use the best of the bunch. Your Denon uses a custom TI DSD1790 DAC that is supposed to be slightly less spec-wise than the DSD1792 which is a better spec'd DAC than is found in the Denon 3910 or current 3930. I've heard good things with both external DACs you've selected and suspect either one can help your Denon. Having those tubes in either DAC will help tame the edginess of your CDs, that is why I have the tube buffers in my system. Good luck with your search to better two-channel sound.

Slbenz