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SACD and DVD-Audio have brought multichannel music back into the mix for many audiophiles. However, without an official digital connection standard in place, consumers must contend with multiple cables and then find a preamp designed to manage the analog signals and send them to various amplifiers.

As any audio purist will note, the best way to do that is leave the signal in the analog domain. And, many tube fans contend, the best way to do that is via tubes. Enter the Fosgate Audionics limited edition FAP V1 vacuum-tube surround processor, due to ship in September.

FA describes the FAP V1 as the first all vacuum-tube multichannel processor operating exclusively in the analog domain. The company says it represents the "ultimate" manifestation of Jim Fosgate's talents as an audio pioneer, "offering the natural warmth of analog audio reproduction in a highly versatile, surround sound processor."

According to FA, the FAP V1 has eight analog inputs (in a 7.1 configuration) that can be sent directly to the volume control and out to the amplifiers. There is also a 7.1 channel loopthrough to permit the use of digital preamp/processors with the preamp, along with a built-in Dolby Pro Logic II circuit based on the original version designed by Fosgate for Dolby Laboratories. FA claims that with this circuit, virtually any two-channel signal can be converted to a 5.1 soundfield that is "natural and seamless."

All of those channels of tubed preamplification don't come cheap: The FAP V1 will be available at a small number of high-end audio retailers at a retail price of $13,000 in a limited run of 50 units. FA adds that each of the 50 preamps will also be hand numbered and signed by Jim Fosgate.

"It's for both practical and aesthetic reasons that a concept as special as the FAP V1 should be released as a limited edition model," explains FA's Brian Carlsness. "Just like any valuable piece of art, it is intended for a discriminating audience that demands the pinnacle of a given genre, which, in this case, is high-end audio equipment." The FAP V1's large and unique retro-look cabinet features copper-plated aluminum, along with bubinga and wenge wood and, of course, lots of glowing tubes.