Originally Posted by ncx

I would tend to agree with you. If your local power is fairly stable you would probably be fine with a surge/conditioner from Monster Power, Panamax, etc. That would put you in the $200-$350 range and still give you coax, phone, and LAN protection on top of clean AC power to your TV, DVD, and receiver. In the end, I think the point is to have the power device fail when a big surge hits, instead of our expensive AV gear. Spending thousands on power devices seems to have diminishing returns IMO.