Gaining listening experience without spending money

@twoleftears yes, this was the angle I was addressing. The other advice is certainly helpful but the focus was not on “rich mans hobby”. I do agree that one can enjoy the hobby without a ton of cash, however, to be able to say I like this amp over that one is more achievable with more financial means, but I am all ears on why I am wrong.

+1 millercarbon
also +1 @twoleftears I've heard really phenomenal sound here in my area through meeting other audiophile here on audiogon and exchanging listening visits.

Join an audio club, if there is one in your area. Go to meetings. Make friends with the other members and ask about reciprocal listening sessions. If there isn’t a club in your area, start one. Or, as @simao suggests, check the location of fellow audiophiles on this or other forums and make friends that way.

Since becoming active in the Portland (OR) Audio Club, I've heard many systems, with a wide variety of gear and setups I wouldn't have heard otherwise.

It can get expensive.  Without hearing them, I bought a set of MIT Magnum cables. They didn't sound as  good as I thought they would, so I ended up with MIT Oracle cables.  It would have been far cheaper to skip the Mangum line and go directly to the Oracle series.

I know you said you wanted to go cheap, but have you ever thought about going to one of the audio expos to hear a variety of brands?  Even though the listening rooms may not be ideal, it does seems to be a way to hear a lot of different systems and combinations of gear.  I've never been to one of the shows because of the travel expense involved.