Power conditioner or outlet?

My ears are not good enough to worry about power sources and power cords but I have lost some moderately expensive gear (big TV, home theater system) to a lightning strike that did not even hit my house (but close by).

How does one protect high end audio gear from lightning?

I'm aware that nothing is completely lightning proof from a direct hit but I suspect if I'd had anything in place between my TV etc and the wall outlet I might have saved my gear. How do you protect super expensive audio gear? Unplugging really ins't practical unless you do it every night and every time you leave the house.

@ghosthouse 

They do, which is why I specified SMP and LiFT as being the important features for me. 

I use an older model, Elite 15i something something, although sometimes I supplement it with a voltage regulator. 

In my system I have my power amp and pre plugged into a Shunyata Hydra 2 conditioner which is passive and non current limiting with Shunyata Copperhead power cords.  Never ran out of gas.  

kalali

A good power conditioner will/should have no voltage drop with a high wattage hairdryer running with everything else plugged into it.

This is completely mistaken.

For one thing, it depends on the rating of the power conditioner. Many good power conditioners are intended for low current use. They simply aren’t designed to be used with "a high wattage hairdryer running with everything else plugged into it."

Moreover, a power conditioner can’t generate current. And it’s very common for sudden high-current demands to cause voltage drop - that’s a function of the service you’re receiving from the electric utility as well as other factors, such as the quality of connections in your service panel and your house wiring itself.

Some people assume that if they have "200 amp service" that the utility can deliver 200 amps, but nothing could be further from the truth. It means only that the service panel can safely distribute 200A. In practice, it’s common for the total available instantaneous current to be much less than the rating of the service panel itself.

n80

I’m aware that nothing is completely lightning proof from a direct hit but I suspect if I’d had anything in place between my TV etc and the wall outlet I might have saved my gear. How do you protect super expensive audio gear?

Something like these products can be very effective.