My MP3 player sounds a hell of a lot better than the cheap ghetto blaster on which I played cassettes (often filled with songs recorded off the radio) as a child in the early 1980s.
At what bitrate? I don't think I can tell the difference by 256...
If you care there's software that will let you double-blind test yourself to see what bitrate is transparent for you.
LAME above 165 should be transparent (i.e. sound the same as the source) for most people even with good equipment.
"quality separate CD player, amp and speakers and compared that with an MP3 player plugged into the same amp and speakers"
"MP3 player"
I'd assume that it means iPod-style device, which probably doesn't have as high quality output as "quality separate CD player". Yes, its comparing apples to oranges, but its different from placebo
I think music is, speaking generally, a product of its time. Most remaining music from past centuries is the small portion that was timeless. That doesn't mean that the majority of music through history was timeless.
Edited - no need to be rude