Before the Kim Steel, I had a 9' AMF (Grand Prix I think the model is called). Anyway, it is a near prefect copy of a Gold Crown and played plenty well. I was very happy with it for the $$$...about a grand less than a GC.
My one gripe about the table is the veneer on top of the rails is pretty thin. Lauching a cue ball on the break would usually result in a dime-sized ding in the rail top (especially if you hit the edge where it meets the cushion).
The stock pockets were buckets, but I used 1/4" thick AMF shims to get down to a 4-1/2" pocket. Those are not your normal shim...they only come from AMF I'm told.