Couple important things. The balls come off the rails extremely fast. They are know for their “springy” play. They bank short which makes them a dream for one pocket players that on other tables couldn’t make the same banks. That springy play also makes the ball rattle the corners of you touch those rails. The deep shelves of the pockets leave the balls hanging in the jaws. Which again is exactly what you want many times in one pocket so your opponent can’t kick it out of your pocket. For a reason I don’t understand the sides play easier than most tables.
These reasons are the obvious ones that come to mind.
Another thing that is not necessarily bad but certainly different is the 4 bolt construction of the rails. When you hit the ball on say on a GC table near the pockets solid it has a tendency to die. Whereas on a diamond the extra bolt and pattern keeps the ball alive.
I have played many diamonds. They are very consistent. That is intentional obviously. I hear all the time that the pockets are flush. I don’t know where people get this from. Diamonds have a lip that sticks up. On the GC I, II, III the pocket liners and the castings did stick up a little and I agree this is annoying. Since the GCIV Brunswick corrected this problem and the casting and the pocket liners sit only about a 1/16” above the rails. Much lower than a diamond. So that problem has been resolved for 3 generations of the Gold Crown tables. However more care must be taken when setting them up because they have more pieces/parts in the corners. Once setup they are sweet though. One of the greatest things about a Gold Crown is that beautiful sound that comes from those pockets when you hit them center. Doesn’t necessarily have to be hard. Like hitting a bullseye on a target. Unforgettable sound that can even be intimidating when your opponent nails it. It makes you strive to hit the center of the pocket just for that sound which is the goal of any player.
I recently found out that the reason why there is no ball return on a Diamond the pro vs the pro-am. Apparently the pro was intended to have a ball return (some like ball returns and some don’t) but, when they went to fit the ball return into the pro it didn’t fit due to the obstructions under the frame. So it was never offered. Seems they fixed that with the pro-am. I personally think the pro is a better looking table than the pro-am. Especially with the rounded corners option and curved pedestal legs. The Pro-am is a boxy ugly table. Every Gold Crown ever made looks better than anything diamond has ever produced. Now as a 7’ table the diamond leads in every area. In a 9’ I will take a Gold Crown all day long.
Last 3 generations of Gold Crowns have slate levelers. The Diamonds always had them and is a superior leveling system. But once setup (At least most of the time) both tables will stay that way till moved.
I won’t get into marks left on the balls from both tables.
Whew.....I need a coffee now.
Sent from my iPhone using
AzBilliards Forums