I think the biggest complaint about KA's was that at some point they started putting in plastic gears instead of metal ones. I guess this was cheaper, because with plastic gears you don't need a motor overload/reset button. Just let the gears strip out, lol.
I bought, and returned, a couple of 5 qt. KA lift bowl mixers to Costco when I found out they had plastic instead of metal gears. The last one I got I kept, it's a 6 qt 475 watt "Epicurean" with metal gears and a crinkle gray finish. Looks very industrial, which I like. It has a reset setting on the speed control. It is, however, big and heavy, so it spends all its time on a counter by the cooktop where the cabinets are high off the counter top. I've used it for such things as whipping cream, eggwhites, and making Tuxedo brownies. In the patio kitchen, I have the Sunbeam Mixmaster (model 9, I think). Haven't used it yet, but lubed the gears and other points, cleaned the beaters, so it's all ready. It looks like it belongs on the retro countertop.
I haven't checked carefully, but it seems to me that the tilt-head KA models are almost as tall as the lift bowl ones. Does anyone have exact measurements of the heights of the various models?