Surge protectors and power conditioners - Good idea or bad?

  This is what I use for surge protection

Intermatic Smart Guard IG2240-IMSK Whole Home Surge Protector,Black

Intermatic's Smart Guard Whole House Surge Protective Device provides coverage of your big investment equipment, from appliances and computers, to HVAC equipment and TVs. This innovative SPD uses the IModule with LED lights for quick and easy indication when protection has been compromised. State-of-the-art TPMOV surge protection technology eliminates the potentially hazardous failure modes that are commonly associated with standard MOV technology.

• Six Modes of protection
• TPMOV surge protection technology
• Module Power Switch, included on IG2240-IMSK, enables convenient disconnection of power at the SPD when replacing IModules
• Includes three IModules with LED power and protection status lights
• IModules replace quickly and easily, eliminating the need to install a new SPD unit
• Tamper-proof IModule doors, will only open when IModule is being inserted
• Type 1 Enclosure for indoor applications in metal
• Includes the IG2200-FMK flush mount kit
• on Amazon 4.6/5 stars
  

Some of you may not have lightning problems but many of us do. We had five power outages last year due to lightning, including one lightning strike that blew up a transformer at the substation about two miles from my house. I have a whole house surge arrestor at the panel, and have a Furman IT-Reference 20i power line conditioner, surge protector with an isolation transformer.

I really don’t care if the Furman affects the "blackness," "holographic presentation," etc., and twenty other esoteric terms which I can’t hear. What I do care about is not blowing up a $5K preamp, $10K amp, and associated equipment.

Oh, and the guy that thinks lightning hits the highest object...look up the term "rolling sphere" as it applies to lightning. You’ll find out lighting is finding path with the least resistance to ground and not the highest object.

I live in Miami Beach.  I live in a newer house (2015).  We get lightning and storms all the time in the summer and a lightning strike blew my preamp and I had to send it in for repairs.  I then put a whole house surge protector in at the breaker panel and no more problems.  A cheap insurance policy to protect your equipment!

Whole home surge protectors are noting but a bunch of big MOVs across line/neutral/ground, or in Europe, MOVs and gas discharge tubes. There is absolutely nothing they are going to do to hurt sound, but they sure may save your equipment. Everything you have plugged into the line will affect the line more than these things will. 

Blah, Blah, Blah.... Big Storm: Unplug your Stuff.. problem solved.