Runnin
Well of course you are correct. Nevertheless we should more or less compare apples to apples and not necessarily price to price although we can do that too.
I am going to use B&W as an example because it's easier - You could buy the big floorstanding CM speakers for around $2200 - this was full range and had 3-4 woofers - or for the same money you could buy the small 705 standmount. Has nowhere near the bass, nowhere near the volume or dynamics - but it has their better tweeter.
The choice you had as a consumer was to take the full range sound with a lesser sounding treble or the better midrange/treble but lose the bass.
Most speaker companies with several lines operate the exact same way. And while the KEF is expensive - when compared to numerous speakers it actually comes out at a lower price with better performance than numerous others. The bass spec that is more important is usable bass which in the UK has always been the -6dB point - the KEF is 47hz -6dB which is FAR FAR closer to the way it actually sounds than the +/-3dB figure. The Kef has quite robust bass for any speaker using a 5 inch driver and it will play surprisingly loud doing it.
For instance the LS-3/5a variants also post 79hz +/-3dB and sounds utterly feeble in the bass in direct comparison. The KEF LS-50 in comparison will blow you into next week - the LS3/5a may as well be the telephone in direct comparison.
Big speakers with more drivers generally provide more bass - but more drivers usually sounds less right in the midrange and not as cohesive top to bottom. You often gain something but you lose something in the process.
I said long ago that I would like to see a $5k version of this speaker using a 8 inch coax with a silk dome (or possibly beryllium if they want the marketing hoopla). An 8 can get the speaker below 30hz and likely will sound less tubby than a 10 or 12. An 8 is far easier (though still difficult) to get a cohesive sound with the tweeter.
The other thing to note about the KEF is that they are small - people want small - If space were no consideration you could buy the Cerwin Vega CLS 215 for less money which was budget leader of the year several years back in Soundstage.
http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/cerwinvega_cls215.htm
If space is not an issue the CV is handedly the better speaker in terms of recreating full range visceral experience - and while it sounds a little less refined in the treble - the KEF isn't exactly great here either.
But the things are huge and you kind of have to have a super wife who will look past those pink rubbers.