Hi Cloud999:
Thanks for taking the time to provide an update and share your experience with Zenhaven … I appreciate it . Even though the mattress by itself does not meet your specific comfort/support needs I am glad that Zen was so responsive and that they sent you their comfort adjusting topper and that the mattress/topper combo is working out for you. While adding the topper will certainly help I’d keep in mind that the thinner the topper the more you’ll feel the properties of the layers below it and that the 1" added to the comfort may still not be thick enough to give all pressure relief needed when sleeping on your side, A few more nights of sleepoing on the mattress/topper combo will certanly tell more than all the “theory at a distance” in the world.
As you say … “if you know exactly what you need up front” a closed-up mattress delivered as a finished product makes sense. On the other hand, the largest advantage to a component-style system is the ability to customize, replace, and rearrange layers over time to create different comforts or to replace worn out the uppermost layers (which undergo the most mechanical stress and are usually the softest layer within a system). There is more about the pros and cons of a “finished mattresses” that generally has glued layers vs a component style mattresses with unglued layers and a zip cover in post #15 here and post #2 here
I’m looking forward to any additional updates you might have the chance to share.
Phoenix