Finally Starting Upgrade

[no_comp18]

Hey guys I posted here about 6 months ago about upgrading my HT from my current Onkyo HTiB and thanks to Callas01 and some research I did, I think I know what I'm going to upgrade to. However, I still have some questions:

So far I have:
Samsung 51" PND8000 which I LOVE!

I Plan on getting:
Onkyo Receiver 609 or 708
HSU STF-2 Sub
Wharfedale Evo 2-20s Towers
Wharfedale Evo 2-CTR
Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 Book Shelves

I still need to research:
Power surge/power conditioner: I've been all over the boards and I still can't grasp a unifed decision on these. I've figured that the APC units are good, but they don't protect your equipment as well as a true power surge unit like a cyberpower or Belkin. What do you guys recomend?

Audio speaker wires: What brand do you guys usually use to connect your speakers and your receiver?

Anything else I'm missing/should get?

My budget is $1500 plus whatever i can get for my old Onkyo speakers/receiver, and if not i'll have to add the book shelves later on in the summer.

Thanks again!