Hi whoever,
Of course, if you decided to blindly trust any listing and recommendation posted here, then you have to trust your trust.
Bingo
The materials, layering, and design of a mattress is always more important than who puts it together! "Theory at a distance" in terms of knowing which mattress may match the specific needs and preferences of any particular person is always subject to confirmation based on actual experience because no matter what any "averages" may say ... each person is unique in ways that may put them outside the range or "averages" of other people's experience.
In the simplest of terms ... each mattress needs to be evaluated in several ways.
1. Overall feel which is subjective but can be tested.
2. Pressure relief which is the major part of "comfort" for most (but not all) people. This can also be tested in person.
3. Support/Alignment which is all about how well the design of a mattress keeps your spine and joints in neutral alignment in all your sleeping positions. This takes a little longer and more care to test in a showroom.
4. Preferences which is all about things such as temperature regulation or motion separation which is not part of the essential needs of a person but can have a significant effect on how well a mattress "works" for each person or couple. Most of these can be tested as well although a few like ventilation and temperature regulation may require some knowledge of the materials in the mattress that can affect this to predict how it may perform over the course of the night.
4. Quality which is all about the durability of the materials and identifying any potential weak links in a mattress which may lead to the loss of comfort and support over time. This requires more specific information about all the materials and layers in a mattress.
5. Value ... which has two parts. One of these is the "commodity value" of the materials in a mattress compared to other mattresses that use the same or similar materials in similar amounts. This needs to take into account all the materials and components including the cover which can be a significant part of the cost of a mattress. In some cases ... a high quality quilted cover for example can be more costly than the entire cost of a cheap mattress. The second part to "value" is all the other objective, subjective, and intangible benefits that are part of any mattress purchase including the benefits of dealing with a particular retailer or manufacturer. These could include things like the ability to make changes and adjustments to the mattress after a purchase and any costs involved, delivery or shipping, the quality of the help and guidance you receive, the "risk" involved in any purchase, other products that are included in the purchase price (such as a foundation, bonus packages etc), or any other benefits that are important to each person and are part of the purchase itself including before, during, and after the sale.
All of these can be "quantified" to larger or smaller degrees and as you mentioned the goal of the site is not to take anyone else's word for anything (nobody else can feel what you feel on a mattress or really know what is more or less important to you) but to have the information and means you need to evaluate all of these for yourself
Phoenix