Perception is an interesting thing. You certainly get around a lot more than I do and are better informed of what room owners and home table owners around the country think about GC's versus Diamonds. My knowledge of that is mostly what I read on AZB but my perception is just the opposite - that Gold Crown bashing is a somewhat popular past time around here but everyone bows down to the mighty Diamond.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. Everyone complains about how Olhausens rattle balls hit down the rail with speed, but on a Diamond it seems players find this to be an endearing quality.
But now that you mention it, I do hear a lot more complaints about the Diamond pockets marking the balls than I do about GC 3 (or is it GC2) pockets leaving streaks on the shaft of the cue.Personally, the supporting pool thing just isn't that significant to me. There's nothing altruistic about Diamond's support of pool, it is a business decision, a marketing strategy. If it wasn't selling pool tables for them I doubt they would do it. Brunswick supported pool plenty back in time but I guess they decided it wasn't paying off. Don't know that I agree with it because it seems to be working for Diamond but again, that's just a business decision. And people seem to give them no credit whatsoever for the events they have supported in recent years like the Mosconi Cup (yes, I know the last one was played on a Diamond), the World Pool Masters, and World Cup of Pool. I suppose if Brunswick decided to put its resources back into sponsoring tournaments they could outbid Diamond to the point that Diamond might make the business decision to not support pool in that way (except of course, for the BCAPL Nationals and CSI events
). That wouldn't diminish my perception of Diamond at all as a good company making a great table. Just that it no longer would make business sense for them in their view.My opinion is that both are great tables - standing alone as the two best. There are some differences in how they play, much of it involving the difference in shelf depth, but that is a more a matter of personal preference, not so much that one is better than the other. But I am surprised that in your experience people beat up on Diamond more than Brunswick.
BTW, I think a big reason why some of the GC bashing is unfair is that the importance of a good mechanic is under-appreciated. So people see the relatively new (or brand new) Pro Am their home room just got and compare it to the GC2 or 3 that used to be in it's place that had been neglected for decades by management and chopped on by lowest-bid hack "installers" over and over and over. I realized the importance of the set-up early on when I joined on here. That's why when I bought my "4" I chose the right mechanic that could install your frame fix and bring in the pockets correctly, even though I had to wait a couple of months with my table in pieces on the garage floor for him to come back from medical leave. It was most definitely worth the wait.
Good discussion. Thanks.
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But they are definitely the correct ones (Intercontinental).
