Hi SergeSurge,
While other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be very helpful … I would always keep in mind that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and I would be cautious about using anyone else’s suggestions, experiences or reviews on a specific mattress (either positive or negative) as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable a mattress may be for you. In many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (even if they are in a similar weight range). In other words … other people’s experiences in general won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here). There are just too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved in choosing a mattress for someone else to make specific suggestions based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or theory at a distance that would be more accurate than your own personal testing.
Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness compared to others as well and a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here) so different people can also have very different opinions on how two mattresses compare in terms of firmness and some people may rate one mattress as being firmer than another and someone else may rate them the other way around. This is all relative and very subjective and is as much an art as a science.
The Novosbed is a very different construction from the Helix, in that it uses (in the medium) two layers of memory foam over a polyfoam core. This would differ from the Helix, which uses latex and microcoils in the upper layers, which are quite resilient and would be more “bouncy” as you described as compared to the Helix. The Novosbed would certainly have a more “dead” feel to it, and you’ll tend to sink in a bit more with memory foam than with latex.
When you can’t test a mattress in person, then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc.) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs, options, and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else. I would phone Novosbed and let them know the specific Helix configuration that you currently have and then let them know you prefer a very firm mattress and they would best be able to recommend the product in their lineup that they think would best have the chance of being successful for you. They may also be able to recommend particular mattress to try locally to compare to their product, as using memory foam in the upper comfort layers of a mattress has a much different feel than using latex and microcoils. Novosbed also has a 120 night sleep trial should you purchase one and it doesn’t turn out as well as you would have hoped.
Phoenix