Connelly and Olhausen tables

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WestElder

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I want to buy a new 9' table ($2500-$4000) for my house sometime soon. I'm looking for a high quality table, and I don't care either way about furniture. The dealers I have talked to love the tables they carry and don't much care for tables built by any company they don't carry. I've searched many online forums to get a wider set of opinions, but they include a lot of misinformation and unhelpful rants.

I've narrowed my search down to Connelly and Olhausen. I don't think Connelly's extra slate thickness really matters for stability or playability. Both companies use superior bumper and rail systems, which is very important to me. Are the differences between them real? Which Olhausen would you match up against a Connelly Prescott?

I am interested in hearing from people who can talk from experience about how their tables play and hold up over time. Any insights or helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
WestElder said:
I want to buy a new 9' table ($2500-$4000) for my house sometime soon. I'm looking for a high quality table, and I don't care either way about furniture. The dealers I have talked to love the tables they carry and don't much care for tables built by any company they don't carry. I've searched many online forums to get a wider set of opinions, but they include a lot of misinformation and unhelpful rants.

I've narrowed my search down to Connelly and Olhausen. I don't think Connelly's extra slate thickness really matters for stability or playability. Both companies use superior bumper and rail systems, which is very important to me. Are the differences between them real? Which Olhausen would you match up against a Connelly Prescott?

I am interested in hearing from people who can talk from experience about how their tables play and hold up over time. Any insights or helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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I can't tell you how a Connelly plays or have the ability to compare it to an Olhausen, but I've had a 9' Olhausen Santa Ana for a couple of years now and I think it's a pretty damn good table for the money. I think Connelly's might be more expensive, but I don't know if the extra money means extra quality or extra anything. I think some of the pool table mechanics on here could answer that. I do know, because I measured it, that the slate is a full 1". I've heard that they could be using less now, but I can't confirm that. You might want to email Olhausen directly from their website. Accu-fast cushions are pretty lively and the table plays fast. I don't see you going wrong with an Olhausen, just get the best cloth to go with either one.
 
Best Table

I work for a brunswick dealer however, I have sold both Connely and Olhausen in the past as well as done many and install on the three mentioned above. My 2 cents is that you should seriously consider the Olhausen over the Connely. I think that they are built better in the 2000 dollar range. at 4000 It probably wouldn't matter but I have never really been a fan of the way the connely tables played. JMO...
 
Either a Connelly or an Olhausen will provide many years of enjoyment. Both are one of the few remaining American made tables. Olhausen has some things Connelly doesnt and vice versa, so it comes down to mainly preference. Both company's use high grade lumber to increase strength and rigidity to provide an heirloom quality pool table. One thing that Connelly doesnt have is an inclosed pocket table. I really like the Monterey and the Monarch both are great playing tables. I personaly think Olhausen tables pocket balls better then the Connelly's. As a table mechanic I can say that Olhausen tables require less shims between the slate and the cabinet. Over periods of time this will benefit you, not requiring a mechanic to come out and relevel or fix your seams from years of play. I have had the opportunity to deal with both companys and I say hands down Olhausen is much more organized and easier to do business with. Larry Olhausen is our customer service representative and he is always a phone call away if we have any questions or problems. Good luck on your hunt for a table. If you have any other questions let us know...
 
you can, last time i checked, get the Olhausen Champion Pro table for around $4,000. thats the table the Challenge Of The Champions, both men and women, is played on. when i bought my Gold Crown i seriously considered the Champion Pro table along with the Diamond Pro table. but i went with the Gold Crown cause it seemed to be the table that would hold its value better, over the years.

you might want to consider the Olhausen Champion Pro.

DCP
 
I was in a Connelly store the other day and overheard the salesman making a sale. He told the customer that their tables (maybe just the model he was showing) use particle board under the slate!! He said it was by design to hold staples better. Anyways, AFAIK, particle board is not what you want under the slate...


Other than that, I think they make a good table. They even make a 2 inch slate version :)


I would just get a Gold Crown...
 
I own a Connelly and can tell you my table sure as hell doesn't have particle board under the slate LOL! I don't know about the most recent models as my table is an older one, I can't tell you how an Olhausen plays cause I've never played on one but I can tell you about Connelly.

I'm not sure if you saw last years BCA Open on TV but they used Connelly tables there and the players didn't seem to like the table too much. Most people claim the pockets "spit" balls out but this just means you can't cheat the pockets, any medium to hard shot that hits the facing of the rail before the pocket won't drop meaning you better shoot into the heart of the pocket. The table also breaks pretty tough too, forget about your soft break if you buy a Connelly. With your kind of budget Connelly wouldn't be my first choice and quite frankly it wouldn't be my second choice either, there's better tables out there.
 
sniper said:
I'm not sure if you saw last years BCA Open on TV but they used Connelly tables there and the players didn't seem to like the table too much. Most people claim the pockets "spit" balls out but this just means you can't cheat the pockets, any medium to hard shot that hits the facing of the rail before the pocket won't drop meaning you better shoot into the heart of the pocket.
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I disagree. At the BCA Open, balls were not rejected by the Connelly pockets because they were cut tight, but because of poor equipment. The players got very frustrated, as did the fans, for the conditions seemed to be randomizing the results a bit. Contrastingly, the Olhausen table at the Challenge of champions played just about perfect.
 
why not try a diamond

[why not just try to get a diamond table. they always sell them after tournaments. why not just call up barry berhman if he has any left. you can get 1 of them for the price range you are looking at..............,mike
 
My Brother has the Connelly Prescott model. He has had it for over a year now. I find the corner pockets to be cut a little different than the Olhausen. The Olhausen you have to be dead accurate. The Connelly is a little more forgiving. I noticed that there were many shims underneath the slate too. But I think the table mechanics he got were rather poor. The Connelly rails are really fast.

Also the Olhausen model to compare is the Eclipse. The reason I know this I was comparing the two models about a year ago. Both of Eclipse and the Prescott are really pretty tables. But settled on a Dufferin Titan model which I guess is patterned after a Gold crown.

Best of luck with which ever one you choose.
 
I recommend particle board under the slate regardless of which table you get. I've worked on many tables and high quality particle board will give you many trouble free years of enjoyment. Poplar lined slate will absorb alot of moisture over time and eventually seperate itself from the slate. Think about your kitchen counters??? Chances are under the laminate there is particle board. Its there for a reason. Particle board is held together by glue which will keep the wood from expanding and contracting.
 
The only thing I don't like about my Olhausen is the side pockets are too big, imho. The corners are deeper than a bar box's and tend to spit out balls if not hit just right (so I've been told--lol). I shimmed my sides with pencil "cap erasers," each secured with two straight pins. This reduced them by about one inch to better match the bar boxes.

I have the Remington model where the legs go all the way up to the slate framing. I've heard this keeps the table stable longer, so you might want to consider that.

Jeff Livingston
 
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