Hi pievel,
You may be making this much too complicated or technical than it needs to be. The best place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that you will need to make the best possible choices … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones. Your best chance of success is to follow all the steps one at a time.
Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for that are involved in each of them and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability, durability, and value.
The guidelines in this article will also be helpful as well so you can avoid going to stores where it’s unlikely you will be able to find out the information you need to make an informed choice no matter how their mattresses may feel to you on the showroom floor.
Unfortunately you are also the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own personal testing or sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
I and some of the other more knowledgeable forum members can certainly help you to narrow down your options, help you focus on better quality/value choices that are available to you either locally or online, help you identify any lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress you may be considering, act as a fact check, answer any more specific questions you may have along the way, and help with “how” to choose but only you can decide which specific mattress is the best match for you in terms of PPP or all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
You certainly have a suitable budget to be able to purchase a very high quality mattress.
While PPP is the most important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase … other than PPP a mattress is only as good as it’s construction and the quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label. If you can find out the information listed in this article and post the information on the forum then I’d be happy to make some comments about the quality and durability of the materials in the mattress and the mattress as a whole and let you know if there are any obvious weak links in the mattress. Without this information it’s not possible to make any meaningful comments about the quality or durability of any mattress.
As you can see in the guidelines I linked earlier in this reply I would avoid the major brands such as Serta, Sealy, and Simmons or any mattress where you aren’t able to find out the specifics of the type and quality of the materials inside it.
You can see the specifics of the materials in the Nutrition and some of the other Pure Latex Bliss mattresses in post #2 here. It uses high quality and durable materials (blended Talalay latex) and there are no weak links in the mattress in terms of durability so if you have confirmed that it’s a good match for you in terms of PPP then it would be worth considering although I would make some very careful “value” comparisons with other latex mattresses.
Pure Latex Bliss mattresses also have MAP pricing (minimum advertised pricing) and there are some dealers that sell them for this but dealers are allowed to sell for less as long as they don’t advertise it. If you do decide on one of their mattresses there are some PLB dealers that will ship across the country listed in post #32 here that you can call to use as a pricing reference point and I would start by giving Jeff a call at Matt-To-Go who is one of the members of this site.
Again … I would avoid the major brands completely.
If you let me know your city or zip code I’d also be happy to let you know about the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area as well although based on the stores you mentioned the closest forum list to you would probably be in post #2 here. I would always make sure that the store you are visiting can tell you the specifics about the materials inside any mattress you are testing or considering or most of the time you spend testing it will have been wasted.
If you are also open to an online purchase then the tutorial also includes several links to lists of some of the better online options I’m aware of as well (in the optional online step).
Phoenix