I don't want to derail into a philosophical discussion on pricing, as the seller sets the price and the free market decides if people buy and how many. I feel they're a great value (as long as they end up with a good result, that is
If anyone is wondering, Echo reached out to me and has offered support on multiple questions post-sale and even offered to give some thought to designing a way to switch them back and forth between biamp and full passive, so the support is there thus far.
As for the fixed resistors, you're right about the L-pads being more flexible. The biggest consideration would be if you change the room or speaker placement or gear and may want to adjust those settings again. I'm just annoyed at my vintage L-pads because they are the only issue with my current 4343's. Deoxit resolved it, but that's a bandaid and the issue will return. A stepped switch with multiple resistors in a ladder configuration would be interesting and I considered it but decided to stick with the proposed parts list.