I upgraded my OS to 10.7.4 and completed the Aperture updates. The defaults for the 800e are really good! This was not the case when I got my 5D2, and I was able to significantly improve over Aperture's default settings for that camera. I'll use the defaults for the 800 for a while before I make any changes, and if I do they will be minor.
It would be useful, though, to have some concrete info about the concepts behind that brick, about each slider in it, and how they interact with one another and the editing tools. It is hard to imagine that would disclose any secret sauce!