Recommendations for a sub $600 power strip?

For $600 I would second a used "power conditioner" like the Runnings Springs Haley. The Haley has six outlets, does not limit currents, and provides great black backgrounds.

Does the Haley isolate digital components from analog?

Pubul57, I spoke to Dan and Lenny about this at RMAF last year. While I cold not totally decipher their response, I was left with the impression that the Haley does not provide true isolation in the manner that other conditioners provide this feature. The recommendation from them was to plug my amp and/or preamp in the duplex outlet closest to the IEC, then analog components in the next duplex outlet, and digital components in the last duplex outlet. They emphasized not to plug in digital and analog components in the same duplex outlet.

Regardless of the isolation, it is an amazing power conditioner that beat Equitech and BPT in my system. Next up is Isoclean, Sound Application, and Exact Power (as time and funds allow).

Clio09, do you plug you amp into the Haley, not the wall outlet? I would like the simplicity of this, but always hesitant to plug an amp into anything but the wall outlet. I'm not sure I want to put any full isolation into my system, I just don't trust its impact on sound - seems like you would solve one problem and cause another.

First, yes, I plug my amp into the Haley. There is enough headroom left over from the 1800 watt max (I'm in the 1000 watt neighborhood) and I have heard no negative effects on the sound.

Second, I have tried some isolation transformers with my digital front end and while I noticed some additional blackness to the background and lower noise floor, it was at the expense of a somewhat smaller sound stage.

If the components that you will plug into the Haley do not exceed 75% of its maximum rating (1800 watts) then I think you would be fine. That is the baseline I use.