I agree with the predominant opinion on this one - a "good" quality surge protector that has enough capacity to meet the needs of your HT is a good investment. I, and I'm sure many others, have experienced what a power surge can do to un-protected electronics. I'm sure the OP's $100+ SP is up to the task. From the price, it almost certainly has to be a "good" one. Unless it's a Monster-branded SP, in which case it's a known fact that Monster products pollute the laminar positron flow going into your amps. That will ultimately lead to a general feeling of uneasiness, nausea, and depression.
But I will offer up an anecdote...
Up until about a year ago, I had always just used a couple of standard 5/6 outlet surge protectors for my sensitive AV gear. Absolutely nothing fancy. Stuff rated to handle the capacity that I needed, but nothing more than that.
Ever since moving into our current home, 7 years ago, every so often when my system was on but not playing anything I would hear a very slight tiny little snap/pop/tick through the speakers when various power 'events' would happen in the house. My wife firing up the the clothes dryer, or sometimes when someone would turn on the microwave, and even when our neighbor's central air would spool up in the summer (our power lines run to the same transformer). I didn't really care, because it was rare and small enough to mostly ignore. Totally ignorable, but audible if my system was on but idling. Bottom line though, it was *something* that was being introduced to my system. I did ask an electrician about it and he just sort of said it was line noise and there wasn't anything he could do about it.
Then one day last year I found a refurb
Belkin PF60 on super clearance for like ~$120. Not exactly cheap, but cheap-enough that I went ahead and bought one, mainly because I liked the idea of consolidating my plugs (AC, telephone, RG6) into one surge protector and the volt and amp display sounded like it'd be interesting to have.
I will not say that it had any affect on the "musical" SQ of my system. No increased soundstage, tighter bass, or lowered noise floor.
But it *did* entirely eliminate that little snap/pop that I used to get from time to time. So that is something of a SQ improvement in my book. I don't know if it has to do with how it's grounding my equipment or if it's something in the PF60's circuitry itself, but it does make a difference. No more little snaps.
So from that, it was money well spent. And its nice to know that my Dish DVR pulls 1.1 amps even when it's "off"
. And that my new "Energy Star" certified DLP HDTV actually does use less power than my old tube TV.
