Focal Kanta No.2

I don't think you're very far off in your assessment, however, I think that overlooks the strangeness in the port alignment. The 3 woofers don't appear to behave identically and I think that may be how they negate the more obvious artifacts of over-damping while enjoying the benefits. 

I wouldn’t put much stock in bad bass experiences as that is heavily room and position dependent.

i heard them and did not hear any significant deficiency.

i doubt all the good press the kanta2 received was a fallacy.

The bottom two woofers in the Aria 936 have low crossover point at the same frequency and slope, with the minor differences seen are mostly due to cabinet placement and are acoustic in nature. The top woofer shares the same low cross point and slope but not high crossover, as the slope is reduced, most likely improving the mid range integration. Both front ports and bottom ports are tuned to the same point.

The Kanta2 has a similar height, width, but bit more depth with a smaller number of drivers, which gives the woofers a bit more cabinet volume to work with. They should perform inline with speakers using similarly sized woofers, but always remember designers have differences on how much distortion they want to allow their system to produce. A smaller woofer will require greater excursion to achieve this with the countering factor will be increasing distortion. Focal tends to lean towards minimizing this distortion and will keep high order crossover slopes in order to do so. This is giving up on the very lowest octaves that aid in giving room pressurization but keeps a cleaner mid and upper bass area in addition to the lower midrange. Compromises in anything.

Someone listed a pair of Kanta here yesterday in bright yellow.  May still be for sale.

Na.... There's not really some direct, unequivocal correlation between excursion and distortion like so many want to believe in order to justify giant drivers. Making a more linear motor is an easier task than building a bigger, stiffer, properly damped cone. Focal and many others have built impressive businesses and speaker with 6 to 8 inch cones.