I need a very firm mattress, too -- I put my number at 85, which the installers of the bed were not too thrilled with. Sometimes when I cannot sleep, I put it up to 90. Slant is probably 45 degrees and I use several pillows too, or drop it to about 25/30 degrees and use the wedge, else, go to lounge chair or sofa. Would I spend $4,000 on a bed like this again, maybe not, but I just wanted to sleep in my own bed and went for it! One thing I did not like about Sleep number -- the one side deflated--help desk person on phone wanted me crawling around on the floor which I cannot do - this was to test a couple things so the repair person coming out would have the right part. So, they wanted to charge me $180 for the tech to come and I balked and they charged 1/2 - kinda bad for a bed only 5 months old. Let me know if this does not make sense, be glad to explain further.