Good or Best Surge Protector

APC S10 or S15: rock solid dependable, works as advertised, and most importantly does not require one to take out a second mortgage. I live in South Florida, which is a veritable lightning magnet, and this thing has saved my system countless times. Get one and forget the rest.

Make sure to get a whole house surge protector.  Those will help a lot of things, including preventing fires in the wall wiring.

For your most precious gear I recommend Furman with Lift and SMP. 

Keep in mind a lot of boutique power conditioners are not actually tested or listed as surge suppressors.  Make sure any you buy are.

One thing I thought of is that you may want to keep an eye on your voltage for a while before deciding.  This will tell you if you need a conditioner with a built-in voltage regulator or not.  If the voltage is good and stable, then  you don't, but if you see it drop below say 115 or above 125 you probably want one.

No surge protector is going to protect from a direct strike. I looked into this deeply some time ago. My recollection is that the “Brickwalk” brand provides good protection with minimal drawbacks. That said, protecting at the panel is the best way to go. Check out Environmental Potentials. I’m using an EP-2050 (I believe) which reduces noise throughout your electrical service at all points and provides protection from surges and lightning. They have several models and provide great customer service. You will need an electrician to install. I’ve had mine for 15 years, moving three times in the process. It always came along for the journey. EP products are designed for industrial applications where surges, hash, and noise can result in costly production errors on high tolerance products that are precision machined. They aren’t playing around and you won’t be disappointed in the performance and peace of mind. Good luck!

+1 to Erik wrt whole home protector plus a Furman or equivalent. Watch out for brutally overpriced toys called power conditioners but are just parts in a box.