I have the Aria 936 and went from the Rocket 44 to Kimber 8tc. I much prefer the Kimber. The AQ seemed to suck the life out of my system. The Kimber, to me, are very neutral
You had a gold-plated spade/banana on the Rocket 44. The solid-core of the Rocket 44 are very neutral and not harsh. The gold plated terminations definitely make things warmer and the end result could have been too dull sounding. The Kimber typically uses it's own terminations, which are a plated allow - much more neutral.