Hello Nat and welcome.
You definitely have a tougher decision than most...
One thing I was thinking was perhaps you could give us some feed back about what you do and do not like about your KEF's. Since you're at least familiar with the KEF's, others (not myself) may be familiar with them as well and may beable to offer some comparisons between the Axioms and KEF's. This may give you a better idea of what to expect with an Axiom upgrade. So what are you looking for...? more base, tighter base, clearer midrange...ect?
With regards to the Axiom's being "bright". I have had my Axioms for about a week and a half and I really think this assesment of Axioms as being "bright" is really unfair and totally inaccurate. Let me explain. The M60's that I have can be very fatiguing and quite honestly there was a moment when I first got them that I thought: "heck these things ARE just to "bright" and I'm gonna send them back..." However, what I quickly discovered was that it wasn't the speakers at all but the RECORDING, plain and simple. These speakers are completely neutral, almost to a fault. What I am experiencing is if you give the Axioms a good recording the sound is totally smooth and transparent, absolutely amazing! Give them a poor recording and yes definitely the sound can be bright and fatiguing. I have a very "bright" room, the walls are bare dry-wall and there's a brick fire place to one side. The only redeeming feature to this room is the carpeted floor. In this "bright" room I still can get the smoothest, most natural sound I've ever heard from any speaker in this price range (and above). The Axioms are perfectly neutral and transparent, the mark of a real High End speaker, but this comes at a cost. The cost being that it's very likely that not every recording you own will sound good. Some recordings could honestly sound terrible, but this isn't the fault of the speaker but of the recording.
I really believe this is how Axiom speakers have gotten this unfair label as being "bright". I think what can happen is people get them home, set them up and start listening to some of their favorite music only to be disappointed when their favorite tunes, that they're used to hearing on cheaper speakers with recessed mids and highs, now suddendly sound terrible, and then unfairly blame the speakers. Again, I experienced this and WAS initially dissapointed, but it wasn't until I gave them a real chance with well engineered recordings that I began to understand their true potential. They are simply amazing IMHO!
I think anyone making the decision to go with Axiom needs to understand this point clearly. It's likely you will not enjoy every recording you own and could experience dissapointments, BUT the good recordings you do own will sound like pure magic. So if you're interested in refining your music collection and enjoy finding those great recordings then the Axioms will definitely serve you very well. If you want all your recordings good & bad, old & new to sound good then its possible the Axioms shouldn't be your first choice.
I hope this helps and I truely hope you find the best speakers for you.
Best of luck, Mike
