I’m looking for a new queen sized mattress. I’ve been reading a lot about the Sleep Science Black Diamond and see it through post #4 here. I haven’t seen any mention of the OrthoMattress Avant series. I went to the store, I found their 12" Avant (calm Breeze) was the right personal preferences for me. However, that mattress is $1470, with discounts salesperson said $1200.
I see that the orthomattress is made from CertiPUR foam more? But black diamond has the risk of VOCs.
I’m just not sure what else. It appears that they both have edges, both are similar thickness and density.
OrthoMattress Avant Calm Breeze 12" has a 3lb gel memory foam layer, then a 4lb open cell memory foam layer, and additional layers? Black Diamond seems to have 5 lb and 5 lb, but it’s a mixture foam? So it’s like a less equivalent density? how do I know the orthomattress doesn’t have a mixture foam as well?
People seem to say the back Diamond is more firm, but I tended to like all the firmer mattresses in the store.
Basically the bottomline question is, going fromt he $900 Black Diamond to the $1200 OrthoMattress Avant Calm Breeze. What am I getting for $300?
There is more about the 3 most important parts of “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).
While I can’t speak to how a mattress will feel for someone else … outside of “comfort” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) the most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress always depends on knowing the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label (or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new) so I would always make sure that you can find out the information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/durability guidelines here to confirm that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.
Unfortunately the description that you linked for the Ortho Mattress Avant doesn’t include all the information I would need to make any meaningful comments about the quality and durability of the materials or the mattress “as a whole”. If you can find out the information that you would need to know (listed in the previous link) about the type, quality/density, and thickness of all the layers (which is missing from the description) I’d be happy to let you know if I can see any obvious weak links in the mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the quality and durability of the mattress. I would be particularly careful to make sure that the 3 lb memory foam top layer isn’t more than “about an inch or so” because if there are about 2" or more of lower density materials then it could be a weak link in the mattress.
In other words … the mattress may be a good match for you in terms of suitability and PPP but may not be the best choice in terms of the quality and durability of the materials (again depending on the information you are able to find out about the specifics of the foam layers inside it).
The Sleep Science Black Diamond on the other hand uses good quality materials and there are no obvious weak links in the mattress in terms of durability but you won’t be able to try it out in person so the only way to know whether it will be a good “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP will be based on your own sleeping experience after you receive it and have a chance to sleep on it in person.
Since the post you linked was written, South Bay (Sleep Science) has become CertiPUR certified (see here) so at least you know that the materials have been tested for harmful substances and VOC’s. I would also keep in mind that there is always some additional risk and uncertainty involved in buying a mattress that is made in China or other imported mattresses that may be subject to longer periods of compression during shipping and storage that can sometimes affect the durability and useful life of the mattress (see post #6 here). ADMIN NOTE:Removed 404 page link | Archived Footprint: certipur.us/for-consumers/find-products/
There is also more about buying a mattress from Costco in post #4 here. They have a great return policy so there is little risk in “rolling the dice” to find out if you will sleep well on it outside of the time you spend sleeping on it and the time and effort involved in possibly returning it and starting all over again if it doesn’t turn out to be as suitable a choice as you hoped for.
If you are also considering online options then the tutorial also includes several links to lists that include the better online options I’m aware of (in the optional online step) that include many different types of mattresses in a wide range of budgets as well that may also be well worth considering.
There is more about the different ways that one mattress can “match” or “approximate” another one in post #9 here.
Once you have found out all the specs of the Calm Breeze you will be able to compare the quality and durability of the materials (although again I would be cautious about the thickness of any 3 lb memory foam in the top layers of a mattress) but the only way to know how the Black Diamond compares in terms of comfort and PPP and how well you sleep on it (which is the most important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase) will be based on your careful testing or personal experience.