Personally I don't own any bed with a boxspring and haven't for many years. Growing up we had antique beds with bed slats and currently we have modern ones with bed slats. I think the real question is do you feel the difference, do you need one to make your bed comfortable. As you said, it really is a subjective question.

As for the pillowtop mattresses - they are notorious for developing problems. I suspect if your pillowtop is messed up, almost any new bed will feel wonderful. Most of us find mattress shopping frustrating - they are pricey and we want comfort and quality and don't really know how to assess information the manufacturer hides from us when they use different names and fabrics to confuse us when trying to make comparisons in the market place. I hope you find a mattress you can enjoy.

Sky

Buy what is comfortable. No one is going to inspect your bed for the latest in bedding technology. :-)

I've had a box spring for my entire life and it still works great!

I would do a lot of homework as mattresses have changed the past few years. Fell in love with a Simmons Beautyrest myself a few years ago. Didn't even get the pillow top just the plush top. Bought the top of the line. Less than a year later, there was a big crater where I slept(130 lbs).

Because of new flammability standards it is very hard to find anything other than a "no-flip" mattress. They say this is for your convenience but in truth it is just cheaper to put the higher grade safety material on just one side. Without being able to flip my Beautyrest it isn't possible to get even wear. Same with Serta, Sealy and most others.

I was able to order a Doctor's Choice from Denver Mattress last year that they still had in the warehouse that was flippable(is that a word?:-)). They no longer make them either.

When we were shopping for the first one we thought a saleman was just handing us a line when he told us to stay away from no-flip. Now we are wiser. And Skypath is correct. I would never buy a pillowtop, plush is as soft as you should go. Even with a mattress that flips.

You have to look for a local mattress maker in your area to get a "flippable" mattress nowadays. There are a couple of very good manufacturers in our area. We own two mattress/boxspring sets by them and they're GREAT.

It's time to replace our "Perfect Sleeper" and I'll be shopping at the local factory. AGAIN.

We did the same a lauraa.........went with the 'Black' line. We found their basic coil bed to be too soft and the firm was like a brick. The construction of the Black coils is much different and the firmness falls between the other two.

I don't thing anything is superior......you just have to find what works for you and allows you to sleep well. Foam and/or latex seem to be working best for you.

Chefwong

We got a S&F several years back because we were always most comfortable on very firm mattresses. Wish we had gone with the Serta instead. S&F all ahve 500ish coils which means eac coil has to be super firm. The same firmness Serta had 800 coils (queen size mattress) which we now think would have more "give" where needed. Both were comfortable in the store but they don't let you stay the night!

We tried a Sleep Number last weekend while staying at a Radison Hotel and DH and I both were very uncomfortable. Look on epinions.com for some good advice--you'll need to type in somethign like "buying a mattress" to find some in-depth info.

Basically, it's a very personal decision but there are empirical factors to consider, like pillow tops do sqish down (but some people find they "mold" where others find they "crater"--are they both right?)

Robin

I bought my new "all grown up and homeownery" bed this past summer. It has a boxspring, because they seem to have better life and more reliability, and a memory foam cushion on the top, because it is squishy and soft like a cloud.
I love my bed. :)
I do make a point to not sleep in the exact same spot all the time so the foam can expand. In a few more months I'll rotate it 180 degrees to give it even wear.