Halo Dealer may just be referring to the known sonic shortcommings of using traditional power conditioners, particularly when it comes to amps which are dynamically dependent on using the most watts, the loss of macrodynamics being the most commonly reported. MOV's as well as other forms of protection are believed to constrain dynamics or sometimes cause frequency shifts within the audio band. Straight into the wall often sounds better, but you should experiment by all means. Just don't expect power conditioning of any kind to give you total, complete isolation from spikes, surges or lightning. About the best you can do there is to reduce the odds of equipment loss somewhat, but always remember there are no guarantees...no matter what the manufacturer guarantees. FWIW, I still remember back when Panamax decided to cash in on their own reputation a decade or so ago and campaigned that they would "guarantee" against equipment loss up to a million dollars. Everyone thought that had to be the bomb and units started flying off the shelves - until everybody started reading the fine print. That was only good IF you could prove the Panamax unit was defective. In other words, if it was functioning properly when you lost your equipment, lightning or no, then they didn't owe you jack. I believe Panamax is still around, but they've maintained a much lower profile ever since...gee, wonder why. But, as far as all that goes, probly your very best best, if you want to leave your gear powered up, as I do, is to go to an electrical supply house (Lowe's or Home Depot won't have them) and get something called a thermal/magnetic breaker...not a thermal breaker, not a magnetic breaker, but a thermal/magnetic. A good quality new one (not reconditioned) may be about 70 or 80 bucks. The problem with ANY surge and spike protecting device or technology is that they are almost certainly too slow in their reaction time (don't believe any numbers claimed here). Just ask any electrician old enough to have grey hair how many times they've seen in their career that a component was saved by a surge/spike protector (regardless of the protector's cost). Of course, they'll say "none". For good measure, then ask how many times they've ever heard of such a thing from any of their colleagues. It seems that more than 99% of the time, the breaker on the A/V circuit trips before any of the surge/spike protectors out there can react. In that case, I say if it's all going to come down to the breaker on the A/V circuit anyway, then you may as well at least have the fastest and best breaker technology going for you, but I think the latest and greatest spike protection sweepstakes is pretty much a waste of time and money. I DO believe in power conditioning to improve the sound, but there you still have to research and kick the tires a bit before you buy - some power-conditioning products are worth the money and some definitely aren't, IMO. I hope somewhere in all this I actually managed to answer your question...(!) I ramble a lot, in case you didn't notice.
