Mulester and zildjian hit the nail on the head. Forget about all the whiz-bang gizmos, gadgets, knobs, connections, modes, and badges. Find a receiver that SOUNDS good to your ears.
Whatever processing, surround modes, or formats it has, it will be obsolete in a very short while. You can wait forever for the "perfect" combination of gadgets, and no matter how long you wait something new will be coming just down the road. So forget that stuff unless you have a very specific need that you just can't live without. Concentrate on how they sound. The audio side will determine whether you can "suspend disbelief" and fall into the music or movie soundtrack. Which piece of equipment will send chills up and down your spine, and does it raise gooseflesh on your arms. When that happens then you know you've got a winner.
For my taste, I would go with the NAD. If you look below you'll notice that particular name in my den system equipment list, so in the interest of full disclosure I just wanted to get that out of the way right here and now. Having said that, I have owned Marantz in the past, and I've listened to many different Rotel amps, integrated amps, and receivers.
Personally (I.E., in my opinion), I think the Rotel could be a poor choice with your Axiom speakers. I know that Axiom are well regarded, and I am not trying to dis you speaks... but the titanium dome tweeter can be sent into tizzyland by an amp that is not smooth, controlled, and polished. Keeping in mind that I'm admittedly a fan of soft-dome tweeters in general, and not metal-dome, I would not pair the Axiom's with a Rotel amp. I think that the Marantz and the NAD would both be better choices; and of the two, the NAD is better able to handle the dynamics of music and movie soundtracks, and it is simply the more musical of the two.
The NAD sound is powerful, dynamic, detailed yet smooth, and most importantly... MUSICAL!
That's my two cents.
