Yeah Monster is expensive, but their power conditioners are
damn good. Of course, I would personally opt for a bar-style power conditioner from Tripp-Lite. Their top-end HT bar is about $170 online (from Parts Express). But, if you want balanced power (a lot of studios use such a setup, it really helps with guitar amps), then it's a good choice. All of the other balanced power conditioners that I know of (Furman and Equitech) are in the same price range or higher. I personally think that it's overkill, but that's your choice. That said, I think a good power conditioner is a must (
Panamax,
Tripp-Lite,
Furman,
APC,
Belkin, all good choices). APC has just come out with a new HT power conditioner with optional battery backup that you might look into. Just for your info, basically every data center that needs rock-solid reliability, power conditioning, and surge supression uses APC as their backbone.
Since you're going to be watching movies, then a subwoofer is a
must. Movies are designed to send low frequency information to the subwoofer channel. Besides, it's hard to find any speaker in a sane price range that will do 20Hz solidly, let alone the subsonic effects in some of the newer movies. Subwoofers to look into would be
Hsu,
Velodyne,
SVS, and others. Depending how big your room is, SVS might be your best bet. Their 12-in subs have monster output and will literally shake the house. Even their bottom-end 10-in sub will do 20Hz at over 90dB anechoically (and it costs $429 plus shipping).
For speakers, it really depends on your budget and room size. It also depends on how you like to listen. If you like your music LOUD, then you might need beefier speakers than someone with the same room that is more into quieter listening.
