Amp protection circuitry? all that its cracked up to be?

I was curious what everyone plugs their amps into? The wall? A surge suppressor? Power conditioner? I've been on the listening end of a Bryston 4B-ST amp for some time now, just recently upgraded the home theater to a Proceed AMP5. Both user manuals claim that the amps have internal protection circuits and RF rejectors and they should be plugged directly into the wall socket. Does anyone believe this? I've noticed quite a difference when I plug my 4B-ST into my MonsterPower HTS3500 as opposed to the wall socket. The sound gets sweeter, and the imaging improoves. Can't say if the power drops off as my speakers are fairly efficient and I'm nowhere near to straining the amp. Just curious what everyone else does. To be honest, the main reason I plug into the HTS3500 is to make myself feel better about a lightning strike. Granted, if lightning hits on or near the house it's probably all over. I knew this guy who's house got hit by lightning. He lost power, and it would not come back on. Finally, he called the power company out. They were amazed to find that every single wire in his walls had vaporized! They said he was darn lucky the house didn't burn down. Anyway, I ramble...