Most any amp will sound best wide open. Volume controls (Esp. cheaper ones) are rather non-linear at the lower ends of their ranges. So I can see why he wants to run it more wide open.
Question about Gain, amp power and volume
I guess my question is how do i know if i have too much gain or too much power. I have pretty efficent speakers (Dunlavy sc3, i think around 91db) and a 175w integated (plinius 8200), i can only use my volume to about the 11 o'clock position before it is way too loud, i recently bought a pair of in line attenuators (i think they add 10db of resistance) and they help the problem but not by much. I have run into this problem in the past with certain preamp / power amp combos but as i am using an integrated amp now i was thinking i may have too much power, any thoughts appreciated