I have my left dial set almost at the bottom, I hate the extra water being pushed through the ground to make a bigger coffee - I just add water from the kettle (temp controlled obv) and find I get a much better cup.
I actually had a problem with mine but repaired it, mainly with food grade silicone as the brew head was sticking and ended up depositing most of the grounds in the machine - came to light as I was getting very weak coffee
Love the machine, was in a right panic when it broke and while I have a Gaggia I just don't use it, I don't drink instant and tend to use Aldi beans for my everyday cups of coffee (americano) and Rave when I want a nicer cup!
Mine drops a lot of grounds in the machine, could this be whats wrong with mine?