The enemy of your home theater is electricity. There’s a good chance a power failure, brownout or power surge is waiting to destroy your electronic components. Beat the AC by having surge protection and an uninterruptible power supply on tap and ready to rumble.
A home theater relies on electrical power to work. Even more to the point - this electrical power needs to be consistent and constant or the electronics of the DVD player, amplifier or HDTV will suffer. The U.S. electrical grid is far from stable, and most communities experience a brownout or power surge on a monthly basis. Some areas even experience brownouts and power discrepancies more often than that. Add to that interference and "noise" brought into the home theater components through the electricity and it's no wonder that there is a need for devices that can both ensure that the power is being delivered and "clean" it up as well.
The two devices that can be of aid here are surge protection and uninterruptible power supplies. Even the most basic home theater can profit by having one, if not both, of these devices.
The purpose of a surge protector is to keep random current fluctuations from affecting the electronic components plugged into it. It also works to prevent the effect where electrical power can cut off momentarily and then return in a "surge". This can not only lessen the effective life of electronics but destroy their ability to work altogether. A surge protector is at minimum the first line of defense against power fluctuations.
Surge protectors can come in varying sizes and shapes. As an example, Belkin makes concealable surge protectors, in that they are designed to accept the cords within their shell and blend into the wallboard, thanks to a chameleon like look. Their Conceal Surge Protector model grounds 11 outlets and can also take care of phone/fax-modem protection as well.
Larger models are designed to work with a whole series of electronic components and include power conditioning features as well. The Furman PL-PRO DMC is a good example here. It not only provides power conditioning and surge protection, but rack mounts into a home theater professional setup. It includes Voltmeter/Ammeter displays for line voltage and current draw and has LED indicator lights with dimmers.