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now I'm considering doing it as a recirculating top drip system using lava rocks as the medium
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I like that Idea better, simply because you can control the flow better. In the tube you can set the return so that there is always an inch or so of water for the roots to wick the water up from (like an NFT system). And the top roots will be getting regular watering from the drip system. That can be easily changed with the timer. The
growing medium should not be a problem, some growing mediums hold moisture better than others, but if it's drying out just make the watering schedule more frequent. That's one reason I feel that the larger the basket that you can go with the better, the other one is more plant support.
On the downside you may have problems with emitters/dippers clogging up in a drip system. The salts (dissolved solids) that can build up in the growing medium will be building up on anything that it comes in contact with. Also getting everything aligned just right for a drip system and keeping it that way so that it waters just right all the time can be tedious when doing a large tube system (even smaller ones). The plants will still need to drink up enough water daily. I think it's really a mater of preference, and resources, that make the most difference in the long run. Especially for larger setups.
P.S. You can always break up the amount of tubes in your system. Like peppers in one, and tomato's in the other. That would be better anyway, simply because of possible different
nutrient intake/requirements.