On the other hand encoders will tell you that KAA is way better than they were before, now that they got away from using the wmv9 codec.

Anime 4-ever is generally not known for their quality, but quantity. Anime Legion, Anime HQ or Zhentarim DivX are better choices for quality as far as ripping goes.

I would go with KAA over Anime 4-ever, as their quality has drastically improved.