Does anyone out there NOT hear a difference in CD

Interesting discussion. I can only offer my own experience. I love music but I also love playing with audio equipment. For the latter reason, I have swapped a few CD player or Transport/Dac combo in the past. Every piece of my system costs between $500-1000 (nothing much by Audiogon standard). I moved from good old NAD to Acurus ACD-11 to adding an external Aragon DAC (D2A2), and multiple moderate tweaks (Upsamplers, anti-jitter device, power cords, etc). None of the "upgrade" gave me much satisfaction--I tried hard to convince myself that the "subtle" changes are what upgrade means. Until I got a used EAD T1000/Dsp1000 Series III combo. Immediately, I noticed music coming out of my system. To be honest, I was shocked as I really had no expectation other than the need to buy more equipment (pathetic, I know). So much details, blacker background, etc. All the stereophile lingos began to make sense. Currently, the rest of my system consists of Aragon 18K preamp, Mcintosh MC122 amp, and Magnepan SMGc (the maggies have been in my system since day 1; the preamp and amp have been swapped in and out a few times). May be I am lucky but I think I have found my synergism (for now). I guess this is a long version of saying Yes, CD player makes a difference but it does depend on system matching. When it really works, it will not be subtle (kinda of like having found your soul mate after all these years of dating).

"The digital era is just beginning to give birth to itself." There's a mental image fer ya.

replacing my Pioneer Elite PD-65 with a Cambridge Audio 840c

These players use different chipsets (generation & technology wise) so the sonic rendition will be different. How perceptible the differences depends on the rest of the system AND the kind of music you listen to.

"The digital era is just beginning to give birth to itself." I'll bet that really hurts.

I was very please with the smoother and warmer sound of my stock EAD CD-1000 mkIII compared to my previous Parts Connextion modded Music Hall CD-25. The MH CD-25 was very, very bright but excelled in details.

Then I modded my EAD CD-1000 mkIII with new RubyCon ZA/ZL caps, Stealth soft-recovery HEXFRED diodes, replaced all internal wiring with teflon coated silver wire, and the Auricap cap mod on the IEC. I have no desire to replace this fantastic sounding player, as everything was much better.

Two points IMHO:
1. There are sonic differences in CDPs and,
2. The "stable platter" is a nice transport and foundation for a front end