Hi JFKinDC,
The better options and possibilities I’m aware of are in the Northern Virginia list which I think you’ve already seen but I’m not familiar with the specifics of all the mattresses each of them have on their floor (that would be more than anyone could keep up with for hundreds of retailers and manufacturers across the country in a constantly changing market) so you would need to call them to find out what they currently have available in the way of latex or even latex hybrid mattresses.
There is more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here and in some cases a higher priced mattress may be “worth it” for a particular person that has specific criteria that aren’t available in lower budget ranges but in general I agree with you that if you are looking at mattresses in much higher budget ranges that there would need to be a compelling reason that clearly indicated there was “enough” of a difference compared to similar mattresses that are in lower budget ranges to justify the higher cost based on the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you. I would certainly make some very careful “value” comparisons.
This depends on the quality of the materials in a mattress but you are certainly correct that if there is too much lower quality materials in the upper layers of a mattress that there is a much higher risk that foam softening or breakdown can lead to the loss of comfort and support (which usually isn’t covered by a warranty) and the need to buy a new mattress much too quickly relative to the price you paid.
You have tried a fairly wide variety of latex mattresses and if none of the latex mattresses you have already tested or any others that you may still want to test don’t seem to be a good match for you then it may be worth considering other types of mattresses and materials or various latex hybrids because it may turn out that latex isn’t the material that you do best with or that you prefer. If a latex mattress with polyfoam layers on top of it seem to be the “best” latex mattress for you so far then that may be a good indication that similar latex mattresses with a similar quilting or “surface feel” may be the “best” version of latex for you.
In some cases … what we “want” to like and what we really do like or do best with may not be the same thing.
Phoenix