Hi,
I’ve had a Sensa VL500 latex with memory foam layer for 8 years and have loved it. However, it’s a queen and I want to move to a king, and I’ve found that Sensa is no longer available. I’ve concentrated my search to a local chain that carries Pure Bliss (where I bought the Sensa 8 yrs ago), as well as Ethan Allen, which carries the new headboard/bed frame I plan to buy. The Pure Bliss “Nutrition” is reported to be 100% Talalay. The Ethan Allen mattress is manufactured by Kingsdown (a NC manufacturer), has 2" of Talalay with the rest being “Kingsfoam” and other “soy based” convoluted foams in the core. I’ve just found your website and have quickly read much of it. The Pure Bliss is a little springier than my Sensa because there is no memory foam layer, although I might buy the Pure Bliss topper which adds a bit of that feel. The Ethan Allen mattress feels nice now, but I’m leary of the kingsfoam and the soy-based foam layer. Just wondering if you have any other thoughts I should consider?
Hi jmiles,
Yes … it’s too bad that NE bedrooms is no longer making their Sensa latex mattresses. They were a good product. They should probably remove the Sensa link on their site though that goes to a non functional URL 
There is no doubt that I would tend to go with a Pure Latex Bliss mattress over a Kingsdown in terms of value. The “Kingsfoam” and the “soy based foam” are just words for polyfoam which is a much less costly and lower quality material than Talalay Latex.
PLB has also just released a new line of mattresses which should be reaching the stores fairly soon (probably in June) which use slow response talalay GL latex in the upper layers of the mattress. While there are only a few people who have even tried it … it will be very interesting to see how it compares to the feel of memory foam. There are mixed feelings about the benefits of making latex feel like memory foam but like all things concerning mattresses … there will probably be all kinds of different reactions to this new material.
There are Talalay GL toppers available from one of our members here (they are the only place I’m aware of that currently have them).
There are many so called “proprietary” names for polyfoam (such as Kingsfoam, soy foam and hundreds of others) which are meant to make them sound like they have some advantage over other types of polyfoam but in the end … they are just different forms of polyfoam with different names for the benefit of creating marketing stories. When you are dealing with polyfoam … the density of the foam is the most important spec and indicator of quality and durability and I would hesitate to consider any mattress manufacturer (like Kingsdown) that doesn’t provide this information to their consumers on request. Kingsdown is one of the “major brands” that I would avoid completely and are certainly not the best source of value.
Phoenix
Thank you for the quick reply - it was so helpful! It confirmed my thoughts that the PLB was the way to go. I may decide to wait and check out the new line you mentioned. I’ll definitely tell other people about your website - it’s great!