It's been some time since I listened to either a B&K or Aragon preamp/amp combo, but I'm comfortable saying that the B&K is more euphonic than the Aragon. What makes the comparison more difficult is that the differences will also be somewhat dependent on the speakers you use. Given your listening choices -- particularly the jazz and folk -- you will find some audible differences between the sound quality offered by these two amp/preamp combos.
As a generalization, I'd say the Aragon will be somewhat clearer and more transparent, have better soundstaging, and better transients and dynamic contrasts. The Aragon combo will also be more revealing (also, a bit less forgiving) of the other components in your system, which may or may not be a "good thing". The Aragon is not austere, and if anything leans VERY slightly toward the warmer side of neutral, so changing from the B&K to the Aragon won't involve a dramtic shift from darker and warmer to lighter and brighter -- it will, however, involve some detectable differences.
The other area where you will probably notice differences is in the apparent power output. The Aragon should provide more headroom than the ST140 (which is a rather old design, though a proven one).
The one question I'd ask you is: do you also plan to change your speakers in the near future? If so, you should try to listen to those speakers with both preamp/amp combos, since the speakers may be a much greater factor in the reproduced sound than either of the preamp/amp combos.
As a generalization, I'd say the Aragon will be somewhat clearer and more transparent, have better soundstaging, and better transients and dynamic contrasts. The Aragon combo will also be more revealing (also, a bit less forgiving) of the other components in your system, which may or may not be a "good thing". The Aragon is not austere, and if anything leans VERY slightly toward the warmer side of neutral, so changing from the B&K to the Aragon won't involve a dramtic shift from darker and warmer to lighter and brighter -- it will, however, involve some detectable differences.
The other area where you will probably notice differences is in the apparent power output. The Aragon should provide more headroom than the ST140 (which is a rather old design, though a proven one).
The one question I'd ask you is: do you also plan to change your speakers in the near future? If so, you should try to listen to those speakers with both preamp/amp combos, since the speakers may be a much greater factor in the reproduced sound than either of the preamp/amp combos.