Thanks, east.
Yes, I did the low ISO comparisons too, and here LR does a very much better job (when less "disturbed" by chroma noise). Unfortunately the 40D doesn't have the raws archived at ImagingResource, so that comparison is a little unfair.
I actually don't feel that there's too much in the low-ISO-comparison except than to say that the 7D AA-filter is about the same strength as the 50D - PER PIXEL - which means a better resolving capability per picture width. The low ISO 7D is quite easy to colour-correct, but as I mentioned the camera seems to be slightly non-linear in its response - the profile changes with ISO and WB...
No sign of the infamous banding problem - as far as I can see at least, of course there is some banding, at a measurable but not immediately visible level.
Fair comparison is quite impossible to do until I get my hands on a production 7D, as the ISO's are overstated by the same margin as in the 5D2. Measured at raw clipping level, the 7D/5D2 are 1/3Ev below industry average, and often at least 2/3Ev below Olympus/Sony/Pentax, who all keep to another standard of ISO-measurements.
So if you want to do side-by-side comparisons with a O/S/P camera, it's actually more fair to use the other camera at say ISO800 and the 7D at ISO1600, those two settings are a lot closer than using both cameras at "in camera stated" ISO1600.