Comcast Cablevision Xfinity Lightning power surge thru cable box blew up television with good surge suppressor Philadelphia, Internet

During a lightning storm, our 16 month old plasma 50" television, which was not turned on at the time, was badly damaged by a surge through our Comcast cable box. The cable box worked fine with other televisions connected to it. There was an RCA surge suppressor hooked up. Our warranty was only good for one year. We took the television to two repair shops. For $100, we were told that the cable box blew up our tv and and the repair would be $650. Another, authorized (for the type of set) repair dealer, quoted us $100 for diagnosis, and again, repair would be about $600.

Comcast is denying that this could have happened. They say that the surge would have destroyed their cable box. Two reputable repair places have given the same diagnosis.

Do I have any choices? Small claims court?