Hi reveillee,
[quote]My wife and I got to test a couple mattresses today. We both liked the Tempurpedic Contour Supreme HD and the Contour Elite. I am a stomach sleeper and my wife is a side sleeper but felt the firmness of these were ok, at least while laying on them in the store.
Unfortunately we can’t afford the price (~$4000 for a king) of these at the moment. We are looking for suggestions of other mattresses that would be similar to those mentioned above but be at least 50% less in cost.[/quote]
There is more information in post #9 here about the different ways that one mattress can “match” or “approximate” another one. Every layer and component in a mattress (including the cover and any quilting materials) will affect the feel and performance of every other layer and component and the mattress “as a whole” so unless you are able to find another mattress that uses exactly the same type of materials, components, cover and quilting, layer thicknesses, layer firmnesses, and overall design (which would be fairly unlikely) then there really isn’t a reliable way to match one mattress to another one in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) based on the specifications of the mattresses (even assuming that you can find out all the specifications you would need for both mattresses you are comparing in the first place).
Mattress manufacturers generally try to differentiate their mattress from the mattresses made by other manufacturers and don’t normally try to “match” another mattress that is made by a different manufacturer so unless a manufacturer specifically says in their description of a mattress that one of their mattresses in the same general category is specifically designed to “match” or “approximate” another one in terms of firmness or “feel” and PPP and/or they are very familiar with both mattresses and can provide reliable guidance about how they compare based on the “averages” of a larger group of people that have compared them (different people may have very different opinions about how two mattresses compare) … the only reliable way to know for certain how two mattresses would compare for you in terms of how they “feel” or in terms of firmness or PPP (regardless of anyone else’s opinions of how they compare which may be different from your own) would be based on your own careful testing or actual sleeping experience on both of them.
Having said that … if you are researching online memory foam mattresses then the mattress shopping tutorial includes a link to a list of some of the better online memory foam options I’m aware of (in the optional online step) and several of them make memory foam mattresses that are designed and described to be reasonable approximations of many of the Tempurpedic mattresses (including the Contour Supreme and the Contour Elite) and several of the other retailers or manufacturers that are on the list that don’t specifically describe their mattresses as being similar to one of the Tempurpedic models would likely be able to give you more information about which of their mattress would be the closest approximation to the Tempurpedic Countour Supreme or Contour Elite as well.
The major brands such as Sealy/Stearns & Foster, Simmons, and Serta all tend to use lower quality materials in their mattresses than most of their smaller competitors that will tend to soften or break down prematurely relative to the price you pay which is why I would generally suggest avoiding all of them completely (and the major retailers that focus on them as well) regardless of how they may feel in a showroom along with any mattress where you aren’t able to find out the type and quality/durability of the materials inside it (see the guidelines here along with post #3 here and post #12 here and post #404 here).
In most cases spending time testing major brand mattresses or any mattress where you can’t find out the specifics of the materials and components inside it and where another manufacturer doesn’t make a better quality/value mattress that they specifically describe as being similar (which in this case they wouldn’t) is mostly wasted because it would be too risky to purchase and it can’t be used as a reference point to purchase another mattress that is “similar”.
Subject to confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list you wish to deal with is completely transparent about the materials and components in their mattresses (see this article) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines here … the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the St Louis area are listed in post #6 here.
Several of the stores on the list carry latex mattresses that would give you a chance to test a range of latex mattresses in different firmness levels to see how you like the overall properties and “feel” of latex.
Phoenix