I stopped listening to CDs directly about a year ago, when I finally started ripping MP3's. That's a shame, because most of my audio equipment isn't that spectacular: various different types of computer speakers and a pair of NHT SuperZeros that don't get much use anymore in the basement.
Oh, and there's a pair of Grado Headphones that I guard rather jealously.
I find myself tonight listening to my Jazz smartlist through iTunes, using my headphones. I'm hearing some really interesting sounds I've never heard before. Part of me isn't surprised. Then again, I'm listening to Charles Mingus' Astral Weeks, and I swear that this is the first time I actually heard Mingus on Bass for the entire track and not just the solos.
I'm not sure what's most amazing: these headphones, the quality of the MP3, Mingus himself, or that after two+ years listening to this CD, I haven't heard any of this yet.
