Played on my First Diamond Table Today

[measureman]

The biggest differance i see from a GC to a Diamond is the longer shelf on the Diamond.
Given the same pocket size on both tables you can cheat the rail a little more on a GC than a Diamond and the ball will drop.
One of the things we say when a pretty good but but perfectly hit shot hangs in the pocket of a diamond is "You would have got that on a GC"
In my opinion Diamonds given all things equal are a tougher table than a GC.
I play straight pool pretty good and my average high runs on Diamonds are lower than on Gold Crowns.
Every now and then I play on Crowns and think how much easier the game is on them.

 

[Drop The Rock]

Pocket shelf on Diamond vs. GC is what really sets the two apart imo. 4" pockets on a diamond play tighter than 4" or 3 7/8" pockets on a GC. If you get the ball in the jaws of a GC it will fall almost every time. Balls rattle at stay up on tight diamonds a lot more.

 

[flyvirginiaguy]

The GC 4 was something like 8 k retail. And the GC 5 maybe 10k like you said.

But the real question is what is the actual price if you were to walk in a store and buy one new? If I walked in the store with 5k in cash, showed it to the salesman, and said I want a new GC for this money, would he say yes? This might be a case of 40% off MSRP, etc.

I don't know the answer to this...

I think you would get it for around 8K. But not 5K. I would feel 5K is at a loss for the retailer. Unless they were just unloading old inventory, which the GCV is not.