I played some E6, 'twas fine. The main idea that I appreciated was being able to throw the whole monster manual at people forever (up to around CR 11-12 anyway, which is almost all of it). There is always some number of Ogres that will upset your day.
What 5e seems to miss on that same idea is that in E6 and classic mid-level D&D the Goblins you still hit all the fucking time and mow down like grass, while a Liche, Storm Giant, Iron Golem, or Beholder are each insanely lethal killing machines even if you're all completely maxed out.
As to up vs out, it's a tricky thing. Enough fireball damage beats everything except the guy who's immune to fireball damage. Narrow characters have a lot of flaws like that. But In D&D really broad characters still have a flaw or two, and if you hit someone who is optimised to hit that flaw you will simply die. Ideally this is why class systems give you a nice broad defensive suite that protects you automatically as you level up. High hit points and easy saves being the classic in D&D.
Growing up (Power Level) vs Growing out (Experiences)
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