Question about power surge protection


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One of my customers at my job just told me that just about all of his appliances were destroyed a couple weeks ago from a major power surge. Items such as his TVs and refrigerators were all destroyed and there was not even a storm. He lives a few miles away from me in the next town. We never heard of this problem and it is rare for our area. His wife is devastated at this huge loss since they are having problems with their insurance company. He even plugged them into power surge protection strips too.

This made me alarmed because I use the generic power strips that offer little protection and now I want to buy the high end power surge protectors like the Brickwall surge protector or the Panamax 5300 power box. My question is, do I have to leave them on at all times for maximum power protection or can I turn the power box off when not using my stereo system and still be protected?
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spareribs
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Don't surge protectors degrade the sound? I keep all my components unplugged until I listen and only if there are no storms predicted that night.
Some of the folks who have better hearing than I do ( High frequency loss in both ears) claim that a SurgeX SA1810 drops the sound stage about 30%, and SA20 about 15%, but I can't hear the difference. I don't use it on the pre-amp or amp, just the cd player, phono pre-amp, TV, and computer. It sounds like it is best to use the highest amperage rated suppressor to minimize negative impact on the sound stage.
Question here for Fuelie. Why is it that you don't run your amp and pre through the SurgeX? I run everything through my SX1115 for protection's sake, but am I making a mistake and degrading the sound by running the amp and pre through the suppressor? I suppose I could do the comparison myself, and I will, but I am fairly novice and interested in other people's opinions as well. Thanks.