Advice for Buying a New Table, Please

bludytiger

bludytiger

Registered
First of all, I am not sure if this is the right section to ask for table advice, but I didn't see a specific section for it.

I have a few questions about buying a new table, but first I would like to explain the situation. My games room is almost ready to have a table put in and I am very excited. I do have a table right now that was given to me, but I have never had set up.

The table is a 9' x 4'6" Dufferin table with 1" slate. The part that bothers me about this table is that it is particle board with hollow legs and all the hardware for it is missing. My local dealer told me that the cost to get it set up with the cloth I chose for it would cost about $1,200, plus the cost of the hardware witch would be hard to find since Dufferin is out of business now. I would also need to get new balls and a set of house cues. After taking all these costs into consideration, I figure it is almost worth wile to just get a new table since all tables from my dealer here come with balls, 4 cues, and setup already in the cost of the table.

I am located in Ontario, Canada, and my local dealer carries two brands; Olhausen, and Canada Billiards. I know that Olhausen is a very popular brand, but although I have herd of the Canada Billiards brand before, I have never known anyone to own one of their tables and I do not know the quality. The dealer told me the costs aren't too different between the two brands and the quality is similar. He was trying to push the Canada Billiards brand though because he mentioned that shipping for him is cheaper since I am looking for a 9' table and he only has 8' in stock on location.

When he mentioned that, I knew right away that he was suggesting a table for me that would benefit him more then it would me, so he kind of lost my trust at that moment. Could anyone give me advice on weather Canada Billiards is a good brand, or suggest what brand I should go with?

I don't have a set price to spend, but I'll say around $4,000 for now to see whats out there. What would you suggest?
 
Just a search suggestion,but you can also try craigslist. If you see something you like,you can go play on it,and check it out,and it's going to be a lot cheaper. For 4k though your options are very good.
 
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the hell with dufferin. just check craigslist daily until you find a nice gold crown for around $900 or less.
 
With $4,000 to work with you could do a lot. Are you after a competition type table or a furniture style table?
 
for around 4k you could get a tournament used diamond pro-am with the light.

Or for even less you could get a real nice used Gold Crown.
 
If there is a tournament that Diamond suppies the tables for near where you live you can pick up one of the 9' pro tables for $4,500 after the tournament ends. But with $4,000 or even $3,000 to work with you can get something very nice if you look around. Johnnyt
 
bludytiger said:
First of all, I am not sure if this is the right section to ask for table advice, but I didn't see a specific section for it.

I have a few questions about buying a new table, but first I would like to explain the situation. My games room is almost ready to have a table put in and I am very excited. I do have a table right now that was given to me, but I have never had set up.

The table is a 9' x 4'6" Dufferin table with 1" slate. The part that bothers me about this table is that it is particle board with hollow legs and all the hardware for it is missing. My local dealer told me that the cost to get it set up with the cloth I chose for it would cost about $1,200, plus the cost of the hardware witch would be hard to find since Dufferin is out of business now. I would also need to get new balls and a set of house cues. After taking all these costs into consideration, I figure it is almost worth wile to just get a new table since all tables from my dealer here come with balls, 4 cues, and setup already in the cost of the table.

I am located in Ontario, Canada, and my local dealer carries two brands; Olhausen, and Canada Billiards. I know that Olhausen is a very popular brand, but although I have herd of the Canada Billiards brand before, I have never known anyone to own one of their tables and I do not know the quality. The dealer told me the costs aren't too different between the two brands and the quality is similar. He was trying to push the Canada Billiards brand though because he mentioned that shipping for him is cheaper since I am looking for a 9' table and he only has 8' in stock on location.

When he mentioned that, I knew right away that he was suggesting a table for me that would benefit him more then it would me, so he kind of lost my trust at that moment. Could anyone give me advice on weather Canada Billiards is a good brand, or suggest what brand I should go with?

I don't have a set price to spend, but I'll say around $4,000 for now to see whats out there. What would you suggest?
Click to expand...

Try Josh Ebert from Club Billiards. Last I heard he had some very nice Diamond Pro's 9 footers with a matching light for around $3000.00 but don't quote me. I know he's at Derby city setting up tables for Diamond but you can contact him here at AZ. He posts under the name ClubBilliards he has many threads in the Mechanics section.

He's also an excellent mechanic and installer. I know him personally and can vouch for his work and his character.

Hope this helps
Jay
 
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If I had $4000, I would look into getting a used gold crown with simonis 860 cloth and 4.5" pockets. Then you would basically have a tournament setup in your basement. I don't know anything about canada billiards, but Olhausen has been a high quality brand for a while. I would think it would have better resale value also.
 
bludytiger said:
First of all, I am not sure if this is the right section to ask for table advice, but I didn't see a specific section for it.

I have a few questions about buying a new table, but first I would like to explain the situation. My games room is almost ready to have a table put in and I am very excited. I do have a table right now that was given to me, but I have never had set up.

The table is a 9' x 4'6" Dufferin table with 1" slate. The part that bothers me about this table is that it is particle board with hollow legs and all the hardware for it is missing. My local dealer told me that the cost to get it set up with the cloth I chose for it would cost about $1,200, plus the cost of the hardware witch would be hard to find since Dufferin is out of business now. I would also need to get new balls and a set of house cues. After taking all these costs into consideration, I figure it is almost worth wile to just get a new table since all tables from my dealer here come with balls, 4 cues, and setup already in the cost of the table.

I am located in Ontario, Canada, and my local dealer carries two brands; Olhausen, and Canada Billiards. I know that Olhausen is a very popular brand, but although I have herd of the Canada Billiards brand before, I have never known anyone to own one of their tables and I do not know the quality. The dealer told me the costs aren't too different between the two brands and the quality is similar. He was trying to push the Canada Billiards brand though because he mentioned that shipping for him is cheaper since I am looking for a 9' table and he only has 8' in stock on location.

When he mentioned that, I knew right away that he was suggesting a table for me that would benefit him more then it would me, so he kind of lost my trust at that moment. Could anyone give me advice on weather Canada Billiards is a good brand, or suggest what brand I should go with?

I don't have a set price to spend, but I'll say around $4,000 for now to see whats out there. What would you suggest?
Click to expand...

I am not sure about the prices up there but the Brunswick I bought new was $1799 (close out floor model only) It has the same rails and slate as a Gold Crown. For much less than a new GC. You can find used GC tables but I really didn't want one for the house. I wanted something a little nicer looking due to the location it will be in.
 
Thank you everyone for your replies with suggestions. I was hoping to go new however. I noticed a lot of you said to go with used, but once again, used would end up costing me extra for setup and transportation. However you all seem to suggest Diamond brand, and that's one I haven't even looked at yet so I'm gonna head on over to their website.

The cloth that I am pretty much sold on wanting is simonis' cloth. Particularly the wine color. The dealer I talked to today told me it would only be an extra $200 to upgrade to simonis cloth, so I think anyone would be crazy not to do that.

A little more info on my room. The room is 32' 5" x 15' 4". So I have the room for a 9' tournament size table, and that's what I intend on putting in there.

Playability comes first. Looks and furniture are good, but second to that of playability.

I guess a good question would be. Who makes the best tournament size table?
 
Best tournament table is a Diamond Pro-am or any of the Brunswick Gold Crown's
 
You don't say where in Ontario you are.

Nothing wonderful on Toronto Craigslist in a full size pool table right now.
You are very unlikely to find a used Diamond.

8 Ft Brunswick
http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/tag/1554548490.html

8 ft Connelly
http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/tag/1550651569.html

8 ft Golden West
http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/yrk/tag/1542324581.html

12 ft Snooker Table
http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/bra/spo/1535946760.html

The top of the line Canada Billiards table is the Black Crown, a commercial table. Here is an old thread

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=141210&highlight=Black+Crown+Gold

F G Bradleys sells them
http://www.fgbradleys.com/

Mika used a Black Crown when doing his instructional video
 
Remember, the mechanic makes or breaks the playability of any table your considering buying. Find a good table and an excellent mechanic and you'll yield the best result.

Jay
 
Canada Billiard's Black Crown is a really nice table. As someone else mentioned in a previous thread, we used one when filming Mika's instructional series. They aren't as popular seeing as they're made in Canada, but as far as tournament tables go, they're top notch. When a World Champion plays on a table and says it's good, you can count on it. Just make sure you have a good mechanic set it up.

As for Diamond and that all, I seriously doubt you'll find a good used one in Canada.
 
I am located just outside of Belleville in Ontario. The three places that I could probably buy from are Belleville, Peterborough, and Kingston.

So far with looking on the net, the brands I have found that are available in my area are Canada Billiard, Olhausen, Claymore, Thomas Aaron, and Supreme.

Thank you A-1 billiards for mentioning the mechanic. I am currently looking for a good one, but I know enough guys that have had tables around here that they should be able to suggest a good one.

Thanks nathandumoulin for confirming the quality of a Canada Billiard table. I didn't see the Black Crown in the show room since they only had home tables in there. The table we tended to lean towards by Canada Billiard, was the Banff in the Chocolate Pear Tree color with upgraded Wine Simonis #860 cloth. I could get that table in 9' for $3910.00.

Here are the links to the Banff and Black Crown tables. Are there any key features that are really important that I am not getting in the Banff?
http://www.canadabillard.com/english/html/produits/html/banff.shtml
http://www.canadabillard.com/english/html/produits/html/blacro.shtml
 
The thing about the Banff (and all the home style tables) is the natural wood rails. If you jump balls or break hard (to the point where the cue ball goes airborn on occasion) then you risk denting the rails. A 6 ounce ball coming down on natural wood will cause a dent. There is no avoiding it.

The pockets are also have leather backings, which tend to spit balls out fairly often. The side pockets are especially prone to spitting out balls, typically on hard english shots or bank shots.

These drawbacks are not exclusive to Canada Billiard tables though. Almost all home style tables suffer from the short fallings. The tournament tables dont look as fancy, but they really do hold up better and perform better.
 
So what you are saying is, I would be better off with a commercial table then a home table. For me, that's fine, but I am only 1 of the 3 people who have a say in the table we pick. Personally I don't care much for tables with fancy detail in the legs and whatnot. I like the more simple contemporary look and I think the Black Crown there is one of the better looking one's I've looked at so far.

I am sure it would cost considerably more however. I would have to call the dealer to find out the price.
 
Doesn't cost anything to contact Bradleys. Higher volume dealer may get you a better price, and I suspect that running down to Belleville is less hassle than trying to drive through Toronto to make a delivery:D

I think their warehouse is in Pickering.

FWIW Bradleys overhauled the table I play on, completely satisfactory.
 
bludytiger said:
I am located just outside of Belleville in Ontario. The three places that I could probably buy from are Belleville, Peterborough, and Kingston.

So far with looking on the net, the brands I have found that are available in my area are Canada Billiard, Olhausen, Claymore, Thomas Aaron, and Supreme.

Thank you A-1 billiards for mentioning the mechanic. I am currently looking for a good one, but I know enough guys that have had tables around here that they should be able to suggest a good one.

Thanks nathandumoulin for confirming the quality of a Canada Billiard table. I didn't see the Black Crown in the show room since they only had home tables in there. The table we tended to lean towards by Canada Billiard, was the Banff in the Chocolate Pear Tree color with upgraded Wine Simonis #860 cloth. I could get that table in 9' for $3910.00.

Here are the links to the Banff and Black Crown tables. Are there any key features that are really important that I am not getting in the Banff?
http://www.canadabillard.com/english/html/produits/html/banff.shtml
http://www.canadabillard.com/english/html/produits/html/blacro.shtml
Click to expand...

If you have $4000 for a table, save an extra $500 and take a drive down to Turning Stone in Aug. I think they sell the diamonds for $4500. You would have the best table in the world for $500 extra!

The black crown play great when you get a good one. The do have issues with pocket cut and the plastic pockets sticking up 1/2" above rails causing cueing problems when CB is in jaws. I think they are over prices for the table. Palason makes a much cheaper version.
 
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