Rick,
John is right about the suspect merits of the various ways to spend money in this area. I did alot of research about power conditioners and it appears to be somewhat of a con game.
The one area I was concened about was power spikes and lightning. Simply put, a little non-fry protection sounded pretty good based on what I had spent on HT equipment.
With that in mind, I ended up buying a Monster Price Model 1100 Surge Protector. I got it for three reasons. First, it is rated to protect against spikes/strikes around 2700-2900 joules, which is about the highest rating I found. Second, I liked the way it looked and it was configured such that I could hang it on the back of my entertainment center (& off the floor).
Here's the 3rd, and most important, reason. This unit normally sells for $200. Apparently a local store had realized that Monster Ripoff , Inc. was selling marketing sizzle at a price WAY, WAY beyond reasonable and was closing the line out. I got the thing for $60 (still too expensive).
Having said all of that, if you want to get some surge protection, Home Depot has these things, rated at 2700-2900 joules, a really reasonable prices. You REALLY don't need to spend alot of money on this. Oh yeah - the Home Depot protector will also "clean" your power for you as well as anything else.
Damn, I HATE dirty power.
