Hi cdisracerx,
I switched your posts and my replies to a new topic of your own since it was starting to “take over” another member’s topic.
Brand shopping can be among the most risky ways to choose a mattress because you are buying a specific mattress not the brand and all manufacturers have access to the same or similar components and materials. Most of the more heavily advertised and most commonly available brands that you would recognize are the ones I would avoid anyway (see the guidelines here) and many of the better manufacturers are smaller and are only available locally or regionally. The name of the manufacturer on the label also won’t tell you anything about whether a specific mattress is suitable for you in terms of PPP or whether there are any lower quality materials or weak links in the design. There is more about the risks of brand shopping in post #5 here and post #12 here).
I also don’t have a “top 5” or a “top 10” or even a “top 100” in terms of manufacturers (see post #2 here) because it would be meaningless when it comes to choosing a specific mattress.
The “value” of a mattress purchase is also relative to how it compares to the other specific mattresses or “finalists” you are considering (in the same size of course and based on “mattress only” to “mattress only” comparisons) or that are available to you either locally or online and there isn’t a “formula” you can use to assess the value of a mattress because it depends on each person’s criteria which can be different from person to person. There is more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
Your best chance of success is following all the steps in the mattress shopping tutorial one step at a time which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines you will need to make the most suitable, the most durable, and the best value choice … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
In many cases one of the best shortcuts is the knowledge, experience, and transparency of the retailer or manufacturer you are dealing with because they will already know what you would otherwise need to learn and who you deal with can be one of the most important parts of a successful mattress purchase.
If you let me know your city or zip code in Colorado I’d be happy to let you know about the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area.
Phoenix