Hi nathanbgilliam,
Some of the better options in the Knoxsville area are listed in post #2 here. You have several local factory direct manufacturers near you which is great but of course no matter where you buy or who you work with … the value of a mattress to you always depends on how well it matches your needs and preferences and of course on the quality and value of the materials in it.
As you probably know from the linked post and information in my last post (which listed the online members here) … I think very highly of Ken at mattresses.net and they have great quality/value mattresses. They would be well worth comparing to any mattress you consider locally as one of your options and this way you also have an excellent value reference point for any latex mattress purchase.
I also think that in many cases a mattress that is “right” in the first place is the ideal … especially if the mattress design or the manufacturer offers the options of making changes in the layering if necessary. There are also some very good “sleeping systems” though that are designed to be used as a topper and mattress together (which is a more European design that is becoming more popular in the US) and they can also make a very good choice and have several advantages over a “standard” mattress IMO (the topper can be replaced if necessary without replacing the whole mattress if it wears out faster or if comfort needs change and it can also lengthen the life of the materials in the mattress below it). They can also be used for fine tuning if your mattress is too firm (not too soft). In other cases cases however … I agree with TD-Max that a topper can also be a “second best” solution if the mattress you are using it on was poorly chosen, already has too much lower quality materials in the upper layers (typically low density polyfoam), or the combination together isn’t your ideal design and is only done from necessity rather than a “designed in” option when you purchased the mattress.
Hope this helps
Phoenix