The only one I find Is selectfoam models. I want this because of assumed extra durability and also because we tried out one of the new tempurpedics the countour elite I believe, which the sales man told us was basically the new version of the Rhapsody? I think the countour elite and rhapsody have the 7lb density on top?
There are several that just use 5.3lb throughout and say it is same feel as rhapsody despite being different density, is this possible.
Contour Elite has:
Comfort Layer: 1.2" TEMPUR-HD®
• Support Layer: 2.4" TEMPUR®
Which I think is probably 1.2" of 7lb and 2.4" of 5lb?
The Selectfoam regalis has
Comfort Layer: 1.8" 7.2lb SELECT-HD™ Foam
Mattress Core: 2.2" 5.3lb SELECT™ Support Layer
(though I am reading in some places that it is actually 8lb density used?)
Which is slightly more 7lb and slightly less 5lb than contour elite.
Selectfoam calls the Regalis “Minimalist” is this just marketing to persuade people to buy the $700 more Aurora model or is the foam inside adequate beyond minimalist where I probably wont regret it.
I laid on the contour select for maybe 3-4 minutes on my side. It was pretty firm but sank down well enough, is it possible my shoulder could get sore or fall asleep with a memory foam like it does sometimes with our firm cheap spring coil? Surprisingly my 100lb wife seemed to like the contour elite feel as well.
[quote]The only one I find Is selectfoam models. I want this because of assumed extra durability and also because we tried out one of the new tempurpedics the countour elite I believe, which the sales man told us was basically the new version of the Rhapsody? I think the countour elite and rhapsody have the 7lb density on top?
There are several that just use 5.3lb throughout and say it is same feel as rhapsody despite being different density, is this possible.[/quote]
Once you are past about 6 lbs density or so with memory foam there would be very little additional durability benefits to higher density. The properties of memory foam will also have more to do with its chemical formulation than with its density and different memory foams with the same density can have very different properties and “feel” (see post #9 here and post #8 here). In addition to this … the thickness of each layer, the softness of each layer, and the order they are combined together will all affect how a mattress feels and performs or how well it may “match” another mattress. There is more about the different ways that one mattress can match another one in post #9 here.
In other words … yes it’s possible for a mattress that uses a different design and different density memory foam to have similar softness, support, and “feel” (which is subjective) to another mattress that uses a different combination of materials.
As far as I know … the specs of the two mattresses you mentioned are …
Contour Elite:
Comfort Layers
1.2" Tempur HD 7.1 LB
2.3" Tempur Material 5.3 LB
Support System
Dual Airflow system
4.5" Airflow Base layer 2.0 LB Polyfoam
4.5" Airflow Base layer 2.0 LB Polyfoam
Support System
8" Polyfoam base layer with air channels (they will provide the density but I believe it’s higher than the 2.0 lb Tempurpedic uses).
As you can see the design is similar but you can’t tell how a mattress will “feel” based on the specs because the specific properties of the foam layers can be different. At one time they did use 8 lb memory foam but they felt that the 7.2 lb memory foam produced a better mattress and a better “match”. The parts of their site that say 8 lb are not correct (and it would be great if they removed it to save any confusion).
I don’t know what they mean by “minimalist” except perhaps that there isn’t more memory foam in the mattress than someone may need (compared to mattresses that use thicker layers of memory foam that may not be necessary or even beneficial). The most important part of a mattress purchase is that it’s “right” for each person and a good match in terms of PPP and if careful and objective testing indicated that the Contour Elite was the best match for you and they confirm that this is the closest “match” to the Contour Elite then this would be the most logical choice out of the mattresses they carry.
The Aurora is the “match” for a different mattress (the Tempurpedic Allura).
3-4 minutes is nowhere near long enough to test a mattress in a showroom IMO to predict how it will feel when you sleep on it (especially for memory foam) and I would use the testing guidelines in the tutorial post.
I don’t know the specs of all the mattresses listed in the memory foam list (linked in the tutorial post) but off the top of my head I believe that Select Foam and Christeli both use 7 lb memory foam or higher in some of their mattresses (NOTE ADDED: Christeli is now using 6 lb memory foam in their mattresses)