Some additional comments I would like to add about our purchase… First and foremost – the customer service at Novosbed has been tremendously helpful. We received one pillow that was over-compressed within the mattress and never recovered, and the replacement is arriving today, after asking us to wait 48 hours after unpacking to see if the pillow would fully expand.
The other thing I wanted to say is that even though we are less than a week into the new mattress (5 nights to be exact), we are both waking up with lower back pain, and I am waking up with hip pain (alas, something I now remember having to contend with about 10 years ago when I had a mattress that was too firm).
You may recall that initially, we tried the iComfort Genius and were happy with its feel. As Phoenix pointed out, it was interesting that we went with the Sonata, since it is approximated to the Optimum Destiny… Yesterday, just for comparison purposes, we went out to find an Optimum Destiny somewhere (Sears had them – although you could tell from the lack of staffing at Sears mattress department that their days were numbered). We tested the Destiny in the store for about 15 minutes. Initial thoughts were that while rated as a firm mattress, it is definitely more plush than the Sonata. For comparison, we also re-tested the Genius (albeit in the Sears store, which was not where we tested it initially) – and that was a little more plush than the Destiny.
There is break-in at play here with the Sonata that we have to take into account. I’m sure mattresses at a major department store get a good amount of break-in, that is likely accelerated by the fact that people are constantly getting in and out of them all day long. The folks at Novosbed have been quite helpful with suggestions on how to accelerate the break-in - and we’re doing, or have done them all:
- 15-20 minute “white sock treatment” – we did that yesterday
- keeping room temperature between 70-72 degrees (we’re on heat now, and we have the thermostat set to 72)
- using a heavy duvet to retain heat in the mattress when we’re not using it (this we already knew, since we use a heavy natural down duvet in the fall/winter, and know that making the bed every morning prevents crawling into a chilly bed at night (good in summer, not so much in cooler months)
- Using a heating pad to soften the firm – that one isn’t an option for us
In hindsight, we think we should have went with the Aria instead of the Sonata, since the comfort level of the Aria is more middle of the road, while the Sonata is pegged at “Firm”. Yesterday, we also took the opportunity to try two separate TempurPedic TempurCloud Supremes (what the Aria is compared to according to Novosbed), and were quite happy with them (although it does have a longer response time for rebound, that we didn’t mind) The Novosbed Harmony wasn’t an option because it was pegged at the other side of the spectrum. (One of our suggestions to Novosbed was that they make more options available in their gel line - and the chat representative said that there were changes coming)
So, some points for anyone considering Novosbed:
- customer service is excellent
- if you truly want an extremely firm mattress – the Sonata is an excellent choice
- As far as the Sonata goes – no outgassing. This would probably not have bothered us if we experienced it, but I know there are members that are sensitive to it – so it definitely is a plus for Novosbed)
- very fast shipping - we ordered on a Sunday, and if not for the fact that FedEx screwed up, we would have received it Tuesday (we are 1 business day ground shipping time from PA) – specifically, they shipped the same day we placed the order.
We’ll let the mattress continue to break-in for at least 3 more weeks, and if it continues to be an issue for us in regards to firmness, we’ll move it into an unused guest room until it is eligible for exchange (we still have our old mattress)
Rick