With Audyseey on, the bass should sound less boomy, images should be better defined, mids sound better and the soundstage should spread out. As I said before, the degree to which all this happens depends on a lot of factors. In my room, it is very noticeable but not nearly as noticeable as when all my surfaces were completely reflective. You don't need a critical ear to hear the difference and everyone who has listened much prefers Audyssey on.

I'd bet Audyssey got the bass speaker (subwoofer) correct or pretty close to correct. There is an inherent delay in your sub that Audyssey is compensating for by setting the distance to further away. The Denon then delays the signal to the rest of the speakers relative to the sub to synchronize the sound. My 800 for example is set to 19 feet by Audyssey even though it's only 10 feet away. It sounds great!

Dynamic EQ works great for me. I also turn on the music enhancer which I am sure the Denon has too.

The dynamic compression does work. Try it with movies. It will really knock down those peaks so that it doesn't bother your lady.

The VP180 will really help with speech compared to the VP100.

House of the Rising Sone
Out in the mid or far field
Dedicated mid-woofers are over-rated