@PGrey 

Our techs are versed in networking products, not audio that is why they were not understanding you when you were discuuing gain.  The HA100 was designed to stream music via bluetooth. from a smart phone or tabel to any stereo or stand-alone speaker.  If i understand correctly you have it paired to a Google Mini?  If that is the case part of the problem could be the driver in the google min, its not that big of a speaker so distortation is common at higher volume levels.  At least in my experiance with the device.  Also keep in mind because the HA100 operates on Bluetotth, and bluetooth is a wireless connection standard, a high power amplifers can gennerate a significant EM feild which can cause EMI that affects the operation of the device.  

If EMI is not the issue then it could possibly be the source volume.  If the source volume is not high enough the amplify volume will come in distroted.  Try turning up the volume on the source of the music and see what happens from there.

Best Regards  

@Carl Fair enough, so where does one go for the support, on the HA100?

My mini re-broadcasts fine, to a couple of "bluetooth-direct speakers" I have, all without turning the gain (volume) way up, it's a non-issue, they're LOUD/Clear, at various volume levels, I just tested two such devices, with the same Mini that the HA100 is paired to.

The HA100 however has such a low gain, that I have to turn BOTH the gain (volume) almost to MAX, AND the receiver (this is a 7x95w at VERY LOW THD discrete-amp receiver, for reference), and then I can sort of hear the news, or a response from my voice query.

If I forget to turn the Mini gain (volume) back down, it's VERY loud, when I disconnect the HA100, loud enough (and really, still pretty darn clear) to be heard several-rooms-over.

I get that the Mini should have a "separate" gain, for Bluetooth, or possibly for "command/response", that's a Google issue.

My bigger concern (or perhaps other) is that if I accidentally "flip over" to another source, such as the Tuner, I'm going to either blow something, and possibly my ear-drums, at the same time.

I really don't get why the gain is SO LOW, on the HA100, that it's basically unusable, on a receiver? 
I have tested two CD players now, and an MP3 player, they all work fine, feeding into the EXACT same stereo inputs, that the HA100 is on.

I'm open to ideas (as unfortunatley I can't return my two HA100 units, anymore, bad move on my part), even ones that involve opening up the units and adjusting something, I can figure that part out, if I know what to adjust...

Thanks.

@PGrey 

My understanding is that the HA100 does not have an internal gain/volume but rather uses the source device to dertime the volume it presents to the speaker.  As with the support desk our exposure to this device has been very limited.  What I will do however is inform our software and design team of your concerns and see if they can supply a more detailed answer for you.

As soon as I have word I will let you know.

Best Regards 

Carl wrote

@PGrey 

 

 

My understanding is that the HA100 does not have an internal gain/volume but rather uses the source device to dertime the volume it presents to the speaker.  As with the support desk our exposure to this device has been very limited.  What I will do however is inform our software and design team of your concerns and see if they can supply a more detailed answer for you.

 

As soon as I have word I will let you know.

 

Best Regards 

@Carl Thanks, I appreciate your follow-through on this.

I get that it's probably a "low-volume" item, but it gets good reviews (scratch mine anyway, for use with a receiver), on most sites, and is listed in some "top 10 BT home-receivers", which is baffling to me now. 

I guess it means I'm one of the few who uses this with an actual "discrete receiver/amp", instead of a BT speaker/headset, directly...

I will 100% ammend my review (I mostly documented the gain-deltas, present in my testing, for my review), if there turns out to be a way to turn the gain up, to a reasonable level, for more "general use". 

I feel like I'm a reasonable, fair reviewer, as long as a product works, "as advertised", which this doesn't , currently, IMO.

I get, too, that TP-Link probably didn't mean to "deceive" anyone here, in advertising this for use with an amp/receiver, but it IS advertised as-such, on your sell-page...

I am (still) a big fan, of TP-Link networking products, in-general, I have several TP-Link edge-switches, as part of my home LAN, semi-managed, and for the most part, they work almost flawlesssly...
I had an older TP-Link SMB switch for my home-LAN "backbone" too, for some years, until it got a bit behind, tech-wise (spanning-tree and such never worked quite like it was supposed to, but it was good enough, for a lot of years...).

Anyway, thanks again, I look forward to any updates, and/or progress here.