Craig, I'd suspect that the main point Sat is making is right on target. If the 53TX had MCACC applied, the difference in sound you heard compared with the 3803 was due to the room and speaker equalization. The unequalized sound with the two receivers, if the levels were exactly identical, almost certainly would have been identical. So, by extension, the sound your brother would get with the Rotel wouldn't be quite as good, not because of any inherent difference, but simply because it wasn't equalized.
