Axiom M60, $2000 per pair: 37.5h, 9.25w, 15d, 92 dB, 8 ohms

KEF Q11 Meta, $2200 per pair: 44h, 12.5w, 15d, 89 dB, 4 ohms

Let’s compare two speaker candidates that are asking for your vote at about $2k per pair.

Where Are They Manufactured?

Axiom is owned by Bryston. Bryston & Axiom drivers and speakers are made in their own house in Canada. With production and QC done in house, you’ll always get what you’re paying for.

Kef is owned by Gold Peak Group, a Chinese company that has been on the Hong Kong stock exchange since 1984. Their main business is making zillions of batteries with a special interest in rechargeable batteries. GPG also makes Kef & Celestion speakers- in China.

Cabinet Size

Axiom’s M60 is a fairly petite tower that hits like a middle linebacker.

Kef’s Q11 is 6.5” taller and 3.25” wider. It’s a LOT larger.

M60 has deeper bass, despite being a smaller speaker.

Drivers

Axiom:

Two 6.5” Pure Aluminum cast basket woofers

One 5.25” Pure Aluminum cast basket midrange

One 1” Titanium tweeter.

The mid and woofer cones are made of contiguous Pure Aluminum.

Axiom’s Titanium tweeter uses its dual chamber design to usurp rear wave reflection.

Kef:

Three 6.5” Paper woofers coated with aluminum film, stamped baskets

One 4” Uni-Q stamped midrange basket with a 3/4” aluminum tweeter.

The 4” flare is less extreme than the prior model and claims to have less horn like color.

Kef claims its MAT disc behind the tweeter has 25 absorbing channels to usurp rear wave reflection. They have pages and pages on their site about it. Below is a photo of the MAT disc. To believe that this tiny plastic disc creates magical results and behaves like a 2 chamber tweeter is a real stretch.

The advertising department is pouring a lot of Kool Aid on an insignificant, flimsy piece of plastic. Bryston doesn’t do that. For example, Bryston/Axiom speaker ports have Vortex flutes to avoid chuffing. The Q11 has a traditional wide, circular port that you could drive a bus through. This provides less controlled bass response. While this is indeed a difference… Bryston just mentions its Vortex ports, they’re not purveying them as revolutionary technology, as Kef does its MAT disc.

The Numbers

M60’s efficiency is 92dB.

Q11 is rated at 89 but when tested by Brit hi-fi news (3-2025) measured 86.3dB.

One watt plays M60 at 92dB

To get Q11 to play at 92dB you need four watts. BIG DIFFERENCE. Q11 needs four times more power to get where you want to go.

M60’s impedance curve is a dream. It barely goes below 6 ohms for a split second as you’ll see on this graph.

Q11 is rated at 4 ohms. Hi-fi news measured 3.16 ohms 96Hz to 900Hz, with a dip down

to 1.2Hz at 99 Hz. Given its challenging impedance and moderate efficiency, the Kef is much more difficult to drive.

M60’s frequency response is 36Hz-20kHz, +/- 3dB.

Q11 claims 44Hz-20kHz, +/- 3dB. Hi-fi news tests show -6dB at 55Hz. They recommend placement near the wall to get deeper bass. To be fair, Kef may have made its claim with the speakers near the back wall. Bryston measures its speakers on a 100’ tall tower with NO room boundaries to augment the bass.

Sound Performance

The M60 has a Steinway Smooth sonic flavor with a kick like a mule. Its mid and bass drivers are contiguous Pure Aluminum. Kef, like most everyone else, uses a combination of materials (aluminum film glued to paper) for its drivers. The sandwich construction is a compromise for transmitting audio signal, compared to the contiguous aluminum Bryston/Axiom uses. The sandwich design is swimming with your boots on. Hi-fi news reports that the Kefs have a “down tilted, bass rich response.” That’s polite lingo for presenting your music with a dark-ish, muddy skew.

M60 presents an excellent image and broad soundstage. Given the precision of Bryston/Axiom drivers, they sound like you’re wearing glasses with a precisely accurate prescription. Placing is very flexible. M60 doesn’t need persnickety placement to generate deep bass.