80hz was chosen because it is a very safe choice even in very poor circumstances. A bad sub, poorly integrated and in less than optimal location, and you will still be hard pressed to localize it. It is also high enough that the main speakers have significantly less work to do.
But a system with a good subwoofer that is well integrated and in a good position can get away with (and benefit from) far higher crossovers.
The typical reason why we feel like we can localize the sub is poor frequency response (we have significant peaks in the response that makes it obvious that it's the subwoofer that is playing) combined with the fact that we do after all know where it is. So when poor integration makes it obvious where the subwoofer is, it's also easy to trick ourselves into thinking we can hear where the sound comes from - since we already know it. There can also be secondary noises like cabinet resonances, port noise or mechanical noises from the driver that can all be far higher in frequency, and thus easier to hear.
Moving the crossover frequency up to 100-120hz you can actually get a lot of what you perceive as "midbass punch" from the subwoofer, and have a good integrated experience as long as the speakers are able to cleanly and accurately reproduce the rest (this is important and not a given). Capacity and drive in the 100-500hz range are important, and I suspect many subwoofer+satelite setups that leaves something to desired, often are lacking in this area.
But if you have subwooofer + monitor setup that can do all these things right, are you then missing out anything compared to floorstanding speakers? I don't think you do.