Peter,

You'll be saying you can't beat 78s through valve amplfication into a klipschorn next!
Why not if it makes realistic and believable music? I'm not sure if it'll fit in my car, though

You'll tell me I'm deaf. I don't find my iPods, even if the file being played back is 128Kbps AAC, tinny sounding cacophony. I've used my vintage Sony MDR-7's on the iPod shuffle and it sounds rather pleasant.
Nope - each to his or her own, mate. I just don't do "rather pleasant"

I'm so used to, quite frankly, outstanding sound quality with the music I listen to at home that when I'm on the move I find it extremely difficult to adjust to something vastly inferior. Obviously there's no chance of me replicating in a car, train, or whatever, what my main system is capable of, but as long as the sound I'm listening to ticks as many of the hi-fi boxes as possible, and crucially, the musical message is effectively communicated, then I can put up with whatever compromises there are.

The sound quality of the iPods I've heard is diabolical in comparison to what I get from the Sony Walkman or the Blaupunkt tape deck in my car, and so my ears can't get past the thin, lightweight, dynamically compressed sound to get access to the musical message! It's just a compromise I'm unable and unwilling to put up with no matter how 'convenient' an iPod is or how many bloody tunes it can hold! There are about 30 SA90 tapes in the glove compartment of my car full of music, most of which is diverse compilations of all sorts of stuff recorded on CD and vinyl (some are 7 and 12" singles from the 70s and 80s) which equates to around 45 hours of music - more than enough to entertain me when I'm out and about!

And if I want more music, I simply make up more tapes. I enjoy the process

It's this sort of 'tactile' experience with music that iPods and computer audio has killed off!

I normally use the Shure E2C, or which I had custom ear moulds made, It sounds fine to me and means that I can transport 700+ tunes with me on long trips using the iPod touch. I also use a 5G ipod in the car, using 256 Kbps vbr AAC, and I can get roughly 4000 tunes on the road too.
Enjoy away!

Tapes take up too much damn space!
Oi cares not a jot, me old son

No oil rigs in our lounge
Nor in mine. I have a separate room for music listening!

Marco.