I had our utility company install a whole house surge protector after lightning struck the utility access in our front yard. Even though we have underground electrical service, the lightning strike to the cover of the underground junction fried our doorbell and garage door opener circuits. I have heard no deleterious effects whatsoever to my audio system's performance. Unless one had monstrous mono block amps, I have a hard time believing a surge suppressor built to withstand the simultaneous demands of washing machines, refrigerators, ac compressors, stoves, etc. would be affected much by an audio amplifier.
Whole house surge protection
I'm thinking of having an electrician install one of these devices at the service entrance of my house. I get frequent thunder storms. Does anyone know what these are made of? Do they use inductors? Reason I'm asking is I do not want any device that can limit dynamics of my audio system. I've looked into ZeroSurge, SurgeX, etc that use SMP, which seem to be ideal compared to devices using MOVs. But all of these use inductors..and some who have used this type of technology have complained of dynamic restriction and collapsing of soundstage. Thanks.