The trouble with a question like this is that everyone has different standards. There are many ARFs from many manufacturers that can be made to fly well and you will see lots of them at events, proving that it can be done. I've had models from a lot (but not all) of the major manufacturers and personally have been disappointed with pretty much all but BVM and CARF (and my Boomerang Nano is good for what it is). BVM models are the best ARFs that you can get and I believe are as close to perfect as you'll ever get (but still not 100%). They are a complete aircraft in a box and everything is engineered to go together. CARF is probably the best value for money, in my opinion, and the airframes are great. They tend to use high quality gear but as these parts are manufactured by other suppliers they aren't quite as well engineered as BVM (but are getting closer all the time).

I know you said that BVM doesn't sell any models that you like but, if you have the money and want to see the standard to aspire to, then try one and see for yourself. I am building an old Mig kit and am enjoying it more than some of 'ARFs' that I have had. It is a lot of work but everything fits and everything is thought out. The last Chinese ARF that I tried to build needed quite a bit of modification and I got fed up with it and sold it on. From now on, unless there is something that I really HAVE to have, all my 'normal' sized models will be BVM or CARF.

Oh, one more thing If you really want the best model you can get then you might be better off building from a kit rather than an ARF.