I use Lightroom 3 also. Camera Raw has the exact same raw conversion engine and camera calibrations in it, given the matching version numbers (eg: LR 3.4.1 == ACR 6.4.1).
I also use Aperture 3, and have tested Raw Developer, Capture One, Silkypix, and a couple of others the names of which I don't recall at present. I haven't found anything significantly different in terms of what I can obtain from the raw converter in all cases, given sufficient skill and understanding. Camera calibration curves and default settings vary, of course, but that's just a matter of figuring and customizing an appropriate starting point.
I use Lightroom 3 because I prefer the workflow model it presents and the features it supports, its UI ... not because there's anything particularly better or worse about its raw conversion quality.
So ... What is it about ACR that you do not like?