This from a review of the Rotel:
"The Rotel RQ-970BX excels at bass power and overall smoothness, but it is not the last word in other areas of the sonic spectrum."
I've not heard the Rotel, but I have heard the Cambridge a lot (both standard and heavily modified) and I suspect that the Rotel and Cambridge have quite different qualities. No matter what you buy someone will happily tell you that you could have bought better (not for the cost of the Cambridge though).
Use the input that sounds best to you. When you say it sounds happier through the MC - what exactly do you mean by 'happier'? You don't just mean louder do you?