How do you train your ears?

WHAT ? oh sorry that was when I was married. Now I just simply RELAX! Cheers

Listening and hearing are two different activities. I like listening to music. I enjoy it more when the performers are into it. I get more out recorded performances when the band is 'on' than live performances when the band is having an 'off' night. Otherwise, the best training for listening is listening. I could not imagine going to a live concert in order to train myself to listen to my stereo better. I go for the music, the fact that it is an 'event' and the performers want to please the crowd, the fact that I might be going with friends who also look forward to it. I go for the chance to see my wife all dressed up, for the dinner before, and the maybe the drinks afterward. I go to listen to new music, a new performer, a new interpretation, or to again listen to something I heard years ago.

I have found it very helpful to listen to what other knowledgeable people say. People who have been in the hobby for a number of years. Have them go out to listen to systems with you either at dealers or other friends. You don't have to agree with them but often they bring up important issues that may not have occurred to you.

An analogy to this would learning about wine. You go wine tasting and have the wine server give you his take on the flavors in the wine.

Just a comment about commcat's post. I have no doubt that the tapes you and the engineer heard at your home sounded like the live performance. However, I once did an amateur stereo recording of a community-produced musical in an auditorium. I was a kid, it was 1977 - and used my Superscope Dolby cassette deck and a pair of $15 RatShack mics set up on a table about 10 feet back from the stage. Everyone who heard my unedited cassette recording was astounded at how much like the original it sounded, in spite of the obvious lack of fidelity of the recording chain and playback gear (my old stereo was OK, but mid-fi - Advent New Large, Kenwood receiver and the afformentioned Superscope deck).

Why? My theory is that all who heard the recording were present at the performance (or in it), and had some memory of the acoustic environment. Since my amateur setup captured the echos of that auditorium, the recording sounded like the live event. This effect was especially true when using headphones (I had Sennheisser 424X cans) fed from the cassette deck's headphone jack. Just my $0.02.

Listening skills are IMHO developed when you have a 'reference' and a 'goal'. If you don't know what is possible you don't have a reference. If you don't have a goal you don't know exactly what to listen for.

I agree with T Bone (mostly), you don't go to a live event for anything but to enjoy the music. While what you hear there could be a 'reference' it could never be a 'goal' because you could never replicate it at home (or even come remotely close).

Although I must admit the other night I heard a professional guitarist audition 3 new guitars against her own in a recital hall. The differences were clear for any one to hear but with her developed listening skills she could articulate the subtle differences in a more meaningful way when talking to the guitar maker. I could hear them, and they made sense when she discussed them, but I could never have described them so well. But now, if I were in the market for a new guitar (not an audio replication of one) I would now have a better 'reference', be able to create a realistic 'goal', and end up with a guitar I could be happy with.

In another, but relevant aspect, earlier that night she was conducting a master class with some college classical guitar students. She was talking about their technique in creating different complex tones. It was Greek to us, and the students as well, until she broke her comments down into playing just a few short notes using the technique, then it rang clear as a bell. You couldn't miss it!

I think many folks approach listening to an audio system's performance from the same prospective that they listen to music, they are 'seeing the forest'. When listening for system evaluation you have to be able to walk into the forest and examine each tree and learn to distinguish the difference between the Doug firs and yellow pines. It is there to hear but you have to learn how to focus on particular aspects and ignore others. Sonically there is an awful lot going on at the same time........

For example, how could you ever fully appreciate when you have achieved good soundstaging without ever having heard what is really possible.

You must get out and hear other well set up systems. Once you hear that 'great system' you have your aural reference, now all you need is a couple of great sources and some specific goals, and a lot of patience. It also helps when you can get other experienced ears to help you through this process.

FWIW.