I prefer a little wider range on my crankset, especially as one can have 10s, 11s, and now 12s in the rear.
I presume one of the reasons not to go too small with the sprockets on the crankset is the HUGE sprockets on the rear. 34T in the "road" groupset?
But, of course, what one loses with those pie plate cassettes is the tight range gearing. Single tooth jumps?