[timurrrr]

Originally Posted by Pete

CDs have a bit rate of 1411 compared to only 256 for high quality mp3s, and streaming quality is ...a mixed bag at best.

You're comparing PCM uncompressed bitrate with FFT-based compressed bitrate. It's like comparing torque of an impact gun with the torque of FA20.

There have been numerous blind tests where people with all kinds of background have been unable to tell the difference between CD/lossless and 320 kbps MP3 using all kinds of equipment, or even said that the MP3 sounds better. There are many explanations to that, but I don't want to go too far off topic.

Originally Posted by Pete

.FLAC files are the best sounding digital file I have used and are generally comparable to CDs

FLAC and other lossless formats is the way to go if you think you can hear the difference through the not-so-high-end sound system in our cars.
You can put as many as you want on a USB stick of a large enough capacity.

Originally Posted by Pete

But, they are the opposite of convenient to use, and it is hard to find them without paying an arm and a leg. Everyone wants to sell you crappy .MP3s.

If you already have a CD, you can make your own FLAC files very easily.

Originally Posted by Pete

I could see why someone might want a CD player, particularly if they already have a collection of CDs.

... because they haven't figured out how to "invest" a little bit of inconvenience once (put whatever music they want on a USB stick in whatever format they prefer), and instead deal with regular inconvenience on a daily basis (swapping CDs, or listening to the same 10 songs over and over), while coming up with hundreds of excuses why this is the right thing to do, and blame modern car manufacturers that they stop making CD players?

Originally Posted by Pete

.FLACs sound much better even over a bluetooth connection.

Oh, FLAC and Bluetooth...
If you care about audio quality, just don't use Bluetooth, period.
Another reason to use a USB stick if you really want to get the best results.