I would echo what Beach Lover has to say about the Beckley and the toppers..and the Hastens topper for that matter. We have really begun to enjoy this bed most now that we have added 2" of memory foam under the Hastens topper. It is still firm, very supportive and comfortable. I am just finishing up a not so lovely two days of a flu bug and I can say I was quite comfortable in that bed even with all my flu body aches.
We ended up removing the 1/2 wool topper - it just made things too soft and it has compressed over the past year, under the hips. We are now in search of a mattress topper, cotton, that can protect the Hastens topper. Likely we will end up with Hastens mattress pad which has elastic straps and can easily be moved to allow the topper to be fluffed up a bit.
I think you can do without the Hastens if you have a memory foam or latex topper of about 2".......deeper and depending on your size, you may sink in too much. Feather beds are lovely if you can stand fluffing them up every day.
But, as Beach Lover says, there is something so nice about that Hastens topper over the memory foam combo, I think it still gives you more of the original feel of the Beckely with the horsehair and it takes away the heat factor of memory foam while leaving the luxurious sink in factor.
I think we, as heavier folks, would have been better served by switching to a king bed with separate mattresses to allow for no motion transfer, as this is now the only issue we have with the bed. I think for the price you can get it at from the factory, it is a very good buy in a good firm mattress that will have many years of wear. It is really hard to know what a less firm verison would have been like, those who actually went to the showroom still bought firm and they told me that they sell mostly firm Bristols. I wonder if, when less firm, it loses support and feels mushy or like you are rolling into the other person too much?