There are some legitimate points to be had for the echo, and I'm not suggesting removing it entirely.

That said, I would like to see an option to play the various encounters with a fixed ilvl (so you can't overgear) & no echo. Just add an achievement for each one, no need for anything special. That way hardcore groups can come back and play the encounter at the maximum difficulty it originally intended for, and everyone else can just play hopscotch over it and pretend they achieved something as usual.