To bad your Axiom's didn't work out for you. Because they are so accurate/efficient/neutral, they produce the music faithful to the original recording. In other words, junk in junk out. If I listen to a CD that is poorly recorded, you will hear those flaws. When listening to a track that is produced with high quality, it will sound amazing.
What your hearing is not the speaker being bright/harsh, etc. You said it yourself, you are listening to vinyl. You may have a problem finding speakers that muffle or give you a laid back sound.
Good Luck on your venture...
