I see what you are gettin at but majority of the time your single pump either it be blue line or gen x are more reliable then lets say a maxi or rio. I do see what you are getting at tho.
Now the only down fall I see is that once you have your outlets placed there is no going back unlike powerheads you can move anywhere. The other thing I like about CL is the reliablity of one main pump compaired to powerheads.