Some say they are. They certainly give much more high "tactile" feedback. For instance, everything is very crisp and detailed in the high end range. That's what gives a great quality to them. I have the M22's, and it took a little bit to get used to all the high end I was missing. However, the M22's are considered as being "brighter" and more foreward speakers, meaning they reproduce audio very accurately, and arn't forgiving with bad recordings. Everything is "up front" and played just like it is played.
The M60's, on the other hand, are a tad bit more "laid back" and are not classified as "bright" as the M22's, mostly because the m22's have 2 5.25" woofers for midrange, the M60's have one.
I have heard people complain that the m22's are very bright, but have not heard people complain, if at all, that the m60's are bright.
I have the m22's and did indeed agree I was missing a lot of high end from an upgrade from really bad speakers, but it never bothered me as being bright or harsh. Many of the people who call axioms really bright have extremely reflective rooms. Metal tweeters will create lots of crisp high end sound that WILL sound harsh if your room is excessively reflective.
Anyways, I'm rambling. My answer to you is that if you set up the speakers correctly, the "brightness" will not be there. Axioms will have tons of detail in the high end that other speakers will leave out. Axioms give a very crisp and detailed high end that will let you hear every breath and guitar knick and squeek. It's amazing! Sometimes you hear all the "mouth noises" singers make. Kinda disguisting, but really cool at the same time that you can actually hear that kind of detail.
