Mainly in terms of mechanical limitations. Psycho acoustical effects will be nearly identical from separate chambers to a common chamber of equal volume if all other factors such as placement are the same. For instance, if you consider looking at the layout of a design for say, 2 12s (example), and it uses the common "dual box" idea of utilizing separate chambers (which is like taking 2 boxes of equal physics and gluing them together), and then compare that layout to one with a common chamber where say the port is located on the side rather than in the middle (another example), then the main differences at that point come from port area..not length, not volume.....just area. And area has a direct relation to cutoff frequencies.
SO, if area is the same (constant) and physically all others are constant, the main differences will not be in audible terms, but mechanical terms, where xmax and linearity can be controlled much easier (though linear response is an audible effect, in this case it relates to mechanical distortion more importantly).
This is why having a smaller port area will lower the tuning, BUT also lower the efficiency below tuning, thus requiring more output to maintain audible authority. BUT, take a port area much larger, and you increase efficiency. SO, the differences and relationship between a separate chamber and a common chamber design are minimal and alike if all other factors of the design are constant. They are not identical, just alike enough to consider them similar in terms of output.
The same effect can be said for cutting a port into 2 separate ports of equal length. Those ports, ONLY when compared to a single one with the same AREA, are so similar in output, the differences are usually not very audible.
So, it can be said that optimism in relation to compression characteristics are dependant more on the exact design layout and full specs, rather than a general use of the concept.