Praise for Heineman Tone-Arms.

[Player-Tone]

Off brand phonographs fitted with these Heineman tone-arms (No.11) are the best for regular use in my opinion. They can be very gentile on your precious 78s while still producing good mechanical sound and volume. If properly lubricated the balance spring inside these tone-arms can be made as tight as possible while still maintaining smooth side to side movement. This dramatically reduces the needle pressure and thus the long term record wear. I have played a few junk 78s from the 1950s on this machine with no more noticeable record dust than a worn 1920s acoustic record on a Victrola (though I don't make a habit of doing this). It is even light enough to not pierce my finger with a brand new sharp needle; not something I would willingly try with any Victor sound-box. Don't get me wrong, I love my Victrola too- but for regular use I feel best setting this gentle reproducer on my records.

But be aware that these can also be exceptionally hard on your records if the arm is not thoroughly lubricated or if the balance spring is not fully tightened. If you have one that is very heavy or stiff try using Mobile 1 synthetic grease on the center axel and around the inner wall. Also tighten the balance spring to the point where the spring-pulling screw actually sticks out the top and can't go any further. The arm still tracks fine and has great volume. I have looked at steel needles under magnification after having played the same record with this reproducer and with a Victrola No.2 reproducer, there was much less needle wear with the Heineman reproducer in comparison. I also notice no record dust on my clean records. Lastly the right-positioned sound box tracks better than many other pre-orthophonic machines. Its only drawback is the material, all pot-metal.

[gregbogantz]

I would be cautious of using too little tracking force. The counterbalance spring is a nice feature that allows some adjustment, but using too little force will result in the needle not being able to stay in contact with the accelerations of the groove wall during high modulation. This is because ALL acoustic reproducers of ALL brands have very high moving mass of the diaphragm and stylus bar and linkage as reflected at the stylus tip. When the needle is allowed to leave the groove wall temporarily, it slams back into the wall slightly later with even more instantaneous acceleration which will nick or gouge the groove wall. This is the classic definition of mistracking and it will result in permanent record damage. It is a common belief and misunderstanding that "lighter is better". So it is often the case that users, particularly of modern playback equipment, get their tracking force set too low which results in actually MORE record wear than when the tracking force is optimum for that particular pickup and stylus. Most acoustic reproducers are designed to operate at around 100 grams of tracking force at the needle tip. Much less than this amount will produce mistracking which will be heard as distortion, blasting, and/or buzzing when playing loud passages. Continued use of this too light tracking force will permanently damage the records.

[Player-Tone]

Good point, I hadn't thought of too little being a bad thing. I just adjusted the spring slightly to make it more heavy. -Still a great tone-arm though!

[gramophone78]

Off brand phonographs fitted with these Heineman tone-arms (No.11) are the best for regular use in my opinion.

Mike, I'm just wondering what makes the #11 better than any other Heineman made arm...??. Have you tested others made by them to reach this opinion..??.

[Player-Tone]

Well, keeping it pre-orthophonic era and I like the easy access to the balance spring right on top of the arm for adjustments.

[gramophone78]

Well, keeping it pre-orthophonic era and I like the easy access to the balance spring right on top of the arm for adjustments.

So am I to assume other arms made by Heineman don't offer this "ease of access" to the balance spring..??. If so, I wonder why they only made the #11 in this fashion..??. Was the #11 "their" top of the line arm??. What (if anything) made the #12 different ??.Very interesting.

[Player-Tone]

Well, I have not seen every single Heineman tone-arm to know for sure, though the Heineman No.11 seems to be the most common.

The No.12 has a different pivot design in the base, there is no extrusion for a spring adjustment knob at the back like on the 11. That's just why I like the 11 best, I am sure they both have their plus and minuses. It is nice being able to rotate the knob quickly to adjust the needle tension if your switching between a vertical and lateral record (sort of like that little slide weight on a Brunswick machine). I think the Meisselbach and similar arms pivot at the reproducer neck and also have no weight adjustments.

No.11

No.12

[Victrolacollector]

Heineman made a few variations of this arm, some the reproducer just slid in, and others had a bolt to tighten the reproducer in place. Either way these balance spring tone arms seem to be light on records. My Magnola Talking Machine has this type of arm, and I have to say that no record wear has seemed to occur.

It seems as most of the arms put too much pressure on records, such as Victor and Columbia.

[Mpellicano]

Here's one that was on a VV 4-7 that was trashed. I thought the tonearm was cool looking, so I bought the machine for parts.

[Henry]

They can be very gentile . . . .

Happy Hanukkah!