For me the aro wins. What it loses out to the various ekos arms in terms of frequency extension, bass and resolution it more than makes up for in terms of unipivot flow, tunefullness and out and out lyricism and musicality.
At a lower budget however, look for an Ittok LVIII (not to be confused with the commonplace LVII). This last gen ittok also majors on flowing musicality and some folk say its the best arm of the lot. The other interesting one is the Zeta. Made by a small but now defunct british company it has the drive and propulsion and extension of an ekos but with a lot of the aro's more organic and melodious character.
At a lower budget however, look for an Ittok LVIII (not to be confused with the commonplace LVII). This last gen ittok also majors on flowing musicality and some folk say its the best arm of the lot. The other interesting one is the Zeta. Made by a small but now defunct british company it has the drive and propulsion and extension of an ekos but with a lot of the aro's more organic and melodious character.