Hi mattressseeker2014, and welcome back after 5 years!
Wow, sounds like there’s a lot going on in your life these days! Let’s start with the basics…as a quick refresher: as typical know any mattress you both choose will be based on your Stats (height, BMI, sleeping position(s) and any underlying health conditions) - thanks for providing those! - and your PPP (Posture & alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences).
As you ‘enjoyed the feel’ of the SOL latex topper, and your wife sleeps hot, you also may want to consider latex, or a latex topper in top of a foam mattress for a more breathable comfort layer…or a mattress with a bamboo, wool, cotton or other highly breathable material to regulate temperature.
If you haven’t already, you can compare the Mattress Specifications You Need To Know to the Mattress Durability Guidelines, to see how durable specific mattress materials are over time.
As you are both higher BMI sleepers, if you are going to go with an all foam mattress, you need to keep in mind we suggest any foam in a potential mattress has no more than an inch or so of lower grade foams (for memory foam no lower than 4 lbs/cuft for normal range weights, and 5lbs/cuft for higher range weights) and if polyfoam is used, with at least 1.8 lbs/cuft density, just to ensure you have support.
As far as the mattresses you mentioned - you are correct, as these do not have transparency in their materials and components it’s almost impossible to assess their suitability or durability for any given sleeper. And don’t put too much stock in ‘labor day sales’ as it’s not uncommon for a retailer to ‘mark up’ stock then appear to ‘slash prices’ (sometimes just to get rid of leftover inventory). Since you seem to be a research -savvy consumer (which is very wise these days!) you should take time to consider your options before you make your decision. Keepin mind the principles in the Mattress Shopping Tutorial if you are looking only at mattresses you can test in person locally, and don’t fall into what @Phoenix calls ‘analysis paralysis’ - take your time to think through the process and how any given mattress feels for you and your wife.
If you are considering ordering online at all, the Trusted Members of the site offer a wide variety of foam sleep solutions as well as other types of mattresses, and in some areas of the country, Trusted Members GhostBed and Nest Bedding have partnered with stores like Macys, Lowe’s, Target and Walmart - so you may be able to test their offerings out if one of those stores is near you, and a trip to L.A. is not feasible in the near future. Please let us know if you have any questions on specific mattresses you find and we may be able to comment on their suitability. I wish you success in your journey to a new mattress, and one less thing to worry about in your busy life!
~ Basilio