Van Alstine vs. Red Rose/Audioprism preamps

"I know they're in different price categories"

I don't know the price of the Red Rose, but isn't one factory direct (ava) and the other marked up maybe, thru another middle man (red rose)? Ava also has a drabber faceplate/housing (not as fancy as rr) which might account for some pricing too.

Yes, there's certainly a markup with the Red Rose that likely doesn't apply as much for the AVA gear (you're basically getting the Mark Levinson name on an older Audioprism design with the Red Rose). And yeah, the Red Rose is prettier than the AVA T7. However, I'm more concerned with performance. The reason I ask this specific of a question is that I've auditioned a Red Rose in my system recently and liked it alot. I've got an opportunity to get this demo Red Rose at a decent price (more in line with the T7 price). I've read alot of good things about the T7, but have not heard it. From what I've read it seems like the T7 may give the Red Rose good competition, if not trump it in some ways. However, I understand there's a 3 - 4 week wait period to get a T7, and in that time the Red Rose may be gone.......so you see where I'm going here. Just looking for comparisons to help educate a decision.

Thanks.