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.