Congrats on the new room, man! That's awesome. I like
Brickwall for surge protect. They make high current models for audio use. A whole house surge protect at the breaker panel is another thing to consider. For whole house, stick with a good brand name like SquareD or Leviton.
For conditioning I like magnetic types like Torus, EquiTech, BPT, Furutech ("symmetric" model), the latter three being balanced power which has additional advantages over the single ended Torus. Learn about balanced power on their websites. Filter type conditioners have their place too and I know people who prefer them especially in low current components, but I have not had good luck with them on power amps. I heard a Running Springs Jaco (filter type) powering a McCormick DNA500 over the weekend, there was no deficiency at all. Tube amps seem to be more sensitive to the type of power filter. Mine benefited enormously from balanced power.
An advantage of magnetic conditioners is you don't need a dedicated line or panel which are intended to reduce impedance. The secondary "regenerates" clean, low impedance power with a large magnetic energy reserve in the transformer core. The reserve allows current peaks without needing multiple high current dedicated lines. It's like having your own powerplant for your system. A single 15A shared circuit is enough to keep the core energized enough for the whole AV system. Such a conditioner has a very large transformer, 15A model will weigh about 90 pounds, in 2 rack space box. If you have very hungry 500W monoblocks w/low sensitivity speakers plus 5 channel amp or hungry class A amps then get a 20A model.
I have never found an outlet strip that sounded good, even expensive TrippLite which got a good audio review. Plug your gear direct into the conditioner or wall. Every temporary connection you add increases impedance, sometimes dramatically with cheap receptacles or brass blade plugs. Quality connectors and receptacles like Oyaide, Wattgate minimize impedance with firm grip and all copper parts. If you have a magnetic conditioner only the plugs that come after the conditioner matter. Anything before it is eliminated from the equation, as long as the resistance of the circuit doesn't pop the breaker. Reducing impedance before the conditioner will save power and probably improve performance, but to a lesser degree than the plugs after the conditioner. A single dedicated 20A line would be more than enough. If you can afford $25/ft for the romex, JPS makes inwall wire that is incredible.
Use a recepticle tester to make sure your outlet is wired correctly and has a good ground. It's good to check every receptacle in the house just to be safe, especially on a newer house. A magnetic conditioner's huge transformer will uncover any mediocre connections in the line that feeds it, even blowing the circuit breaker. This indicates poor wiring, not the transformer's fault as long as the line is rated for the conditioner. Check that the receptacle's wires are screwed on, not backstabbed.
Good luck with your new theater, you lucky DOG!
