Gold Crown or Diamond
I was in this same quandry a couple of years ago. There were plenty of Olhausen's to be had, only a couple of GCs, and no diamonds in or around my area (DFW). I made my decision this way:
1. I wanted a very durable table, preferable commercial quality, and similar to what the pros play on; this qualification removed Olhausen. Most Olhausen tables are home grade tables and don't have the same durability as GCs or Diamonds. I didn't want to run into leveling problems due to inferior hardware or structural designs.
2. I wanted something affordable that could be tuned up eventually to tournament standards. A good table mechanic can do this with just about any solid foundation, but I know most prefer the sturdiness of a GC or Diamond.
3. More GCs were available at a decent price. I bought mine for $700. It's a GC III and was tuned up by RKC. He can make any table play like a wet dream. He didn't seem to think there were too many negatives surrounding newer GCs, other than they weren't quite the same quality, but still better than anything else out there. With his tuning my table plays better than even a new diamond.
4. If I had the cash and could have afforded it right away, I would have bought a diamond. But the situation wasn't there at the time, and I love my cobracized GC more anyways. It's got a classic look with an updated playing surface. The best part is my wife thinks it looks great. I showed her a picture of the cocobolo diamond and she said it looked ugly! I'm happy to have my GC and it keeps my wife happy too. There's not much more I can ask of it, other than the winning lottery numbers....
Good Luck with your search-Ryan