I'm worried the 1050 and the system I'm planning will prove undersized. The room is 14 by 18, with an eight foot ceiling that rises to peak of almost 11 feet. But here's why I'm worried: the room only has three walls. One of the 18 foot sides is completely open, leading to a room with other large openings to the rest of the house. (the 14X18 room is an addition to the living room). The sound system would be pointed the long way in the 14X18 room. I'm looking at the 1050, along with Paradigm Phantoms, which have three drivers and 91db in room sensitivity, a 12-in Paradigm powered sub, two Paradigm Atoms in the rear, a one of the smaller Paradigm center speakers. The main listening position would be in the middle of that 14 foot length. The room will be carpeted with couches and drapes. I wouldn't be worried if not for the missing side wall. Will the set-up I described be adaquate? I want decent home theater for this amount of money, but stereo music is very important. Will the Phantom mains driven alone with the 1050 sound OK. What about with the sub for stereo music? This set up is at the limit of what I can afford. Given the room I'm dealing with and my desire for decent sound, am I better off waiting until I can get into a higher price range? Any advice and opionions will be appreciated. I've been reading this site and it's nice to see all the well-informed, helpful exchanges. Thanks.

I recently moved my system from a decent sized room into a larger, open room like the one you are describing. The larger room just swallowed up my system and it did not sound nearly as good to us. I upgraded both my main speakers (Monitor 5's) and added an amp to the Outlaw 1050. I can tell you that from my experience, the speakers were what made the difference. I went to the Monitor 11s, which have four drivers each. The amp I added (Parasound 5-channel) also made a difference, but even at only 65 watts per channel, the 1050 did just fine filling up the room. The only reason I added the amp was because I got a great deal on it and I'm dying to add an Outlaw 950 to the mix. I have had Micros, Atoms, Mini_monitors, Monitor 5's, and Monitor 11's. I love Paradigm. Unfortunately I have not heard the Phantoms so I can't be of much help there. But I would bet that you'll find the 1050 can more than hold its own in a larger room if you give it the right speakers.

My room is 17'x34' with a 10' ceiling and several openings into other rooms and the 1050 does fine. I'd concur that in my experience it has more to do with the speakers, although the amplifier capacity will become an issue at some point, obviously. Also, the 1050 has 'large watts' in that it's pretty conservatively rated.

I was using the 1050 as a preamp and I could go louder with that setup, but it's plenty adequate as is.

Our HT is in a 20x20 room with a 25 ft. ceiling. It, too, is open on one side. I have older Klipsch speakers all around (four 3.2s, a KV-2, a KV-3, and a SW-10). The 1050 is more than adequate--with the volume set at "60," I can't hear my spouse sitting 18 inches away (umm...added advantage?). As others have indicated, I think speaker quality, not the 1050, is the key.

Thanks for all the feedback. The Paradigm Phantoms, which would be the mains, are a moderately-sized, floorstanding speaker, weighing about 33 pounds each, 37 in. tall, with a tweeter and two 6.5 in. bass/midrange drivers in each. They are part of a budget series a step below Paradim's Monitor Series. The seating area and speakers would be fairly close to the side wall, within about six feet of the main speakers, and there would be 18 feet between the front and back walls, or about 16 feet between the front speakers and the back wall. Any informed guesses about how that might work are appreciated.

Well...it's hard to say. I'ld personally demo the speakers in your home. I've had the Paradigm Montior 3, Monitor 9 and Monitor 11's in my home. Generaly I prefered the sound of the Monitor Line over the Performance line. I'm not sure how they match up in price, but you may want to look into the Monitor 7...which seems to be a compairable design to the Phantoms.

In general it seems like the best bang for your buck upgrades come in speakers. Pre-pros/recievers tend to have a very steep price/performance vs. dollar return. (Meaning that If you choose to upgrade $1,000 for new equipment....it's probibaly wisest to replace the $300 speakers, as opposed to the $300 reciever.)