I bought an Ells Id way back in 2004 after testing it and was amazed by the performance of the suspension. Coming from high pivot Oranges on which I hated the feeling of the chain tugging at the cranks whenever you tried to pedal in the rough and the rear locking up and having almost no suspension when you brake, the Ells felt amazing. It took a little time to get the suspension set up right, at first going down steps and the like the fork would dive and the rear extend pitching me forward(is that the "jack" you describe?) anyway it just took a little time with the suspension settings to stop it happening.
Fast forward to 2008 and I wanted some thing longer travel for bigger mountains, I tried commencal, Santa cruz, lappierre and a moment and chose the moment. I really do not like any suspensions system that stiffens the suspension using chain force to improve pedalling. The Ells just felt right for my style of riding. it is a personal thing. Hence why a well known tester on another magazine loves ells and ed-0 doesn't. personal taste. I like my suspension soft and mushy and able to plough through anything without interuption-old school.
The dhx air shock was awful, it really did not suit the bike, blowing through the middle and feeling uncontrolled, I sent it to MOJO and they tuned it, it was better but still not right.
I too felt the BB was too high, fine for pedalling through rock gardens but not much else, as I said before I like my suspension soft so I run 30% sag which helps.
As an experiment I took the 190x57 shock off my patriot, slackening the angles and lowering the BB, This and the fact it was a non pro pedal coil made it feel great.
Incidently I noticed when i read the review that the fork fitted was a fox 36, which is 25mm taller axle crown than Ells recommend for the MK3 Moment, further exasperating the high BB. A 150mm fork matching the rear would be a better choice. However that BB is still high even if it does corner beautifully.
Which brings me to today and the reason for this post Ells just released a new 2011 version with a 14inch BB and an increase to 165mm travel. It also has a tapered head tube. (and is 60g lighter woo!)(geometry is very comparable to the Nomad)
Now this bike with the right shock might have it all right. depending on the fork/shock fitted you could have a low, long, slack, light, non-jacking all mountain mile muncher that is great for High speed and slow tech sections. I hope so, i would like to try one and see.