Actually, CD audio's bitrate is 1411.2 kbps.

Anytime analog information is digitized and compressed there is going to be a loss of information. That said, if converted to MP3 from original source, 128kbps isn't bad, 160kbps is about as good as you can hear, and if playback on high-end equipment, there aren't too many people on the planet who can detect any loss at 192kbps. I've used as much as 320k-VBR, and settled on 192 as being about as good as it gets.

True, there's a lot of information lost from approximation of the CD waveform to MP3, but we're incapable of hearing most of it. Saying that there is a ton of sound quality loss is stretching it.

Edit: Oops, forgot to post links. Go to Crutchfield\'s Website and put in your X year and current setup, you should get 60+ results.

For those looking for cool, expensive options, the Phatbox looks interesting, and for the ultimate in geeky setups, Omnifi is way cool.

Cheers!