Gaining listening experience without spending money

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.

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.

You’re wrong because you don’t need any money at all. Because you don’t need to buy anything to be able to say why you like one amp over another. Because all you need is to be able to first hear, and then describe, the differences.

The way you get there, I already outlined some steps you can take. Some. Not all. Not by any means. Those are all good steps but there are many more.

Take any component, amp, CD player, turntable, speaker, I don’t care, any component. Put something different under it. Blanket. Magazine. Book. Wood. Metal. I don’t care. Anything. Listen before and listen after. Listen real close. The sound will not be the same. How is it different? Attack? Decay? Focus? Dynamically? Subtle details better or worse? Certain instruments stand out more or less? Which ones? How? In what way?

All these same things you are hearing with these seemingly silly tests, these same exact things are what you are listening for in judging the difference between tube and solid state, between a Pioneer and a Pass. Its all the same sonic characteristics. If you think it takes money to hear these differences, if you start buying gear without first having learned why and what to listen for, you might as well not have the money, you might as well light it on fire and at least enjoy the flame and maybe get some heat out of it.

Another good one, free, take any one of your IC or speaker cables, switch it around, listen to it going the other way. Couple things you will learn. Big one being how many guys will spend hours and hours arguing something like this it takes like 5 minutes to settle. They’ll devote the hours, but not the minutes. Don’t be "that guy."

Another good one, free, take everything apart and wipe all the connections real good with a clean dry cotton cloth. Use alcohol if you have it but you learn just as much with plain dry cotton.

Some maybe all of these will be very hard to hear at first. When you do hear a difference it will be hard at first to say just what it is that’s different. That’s the whole point. You want to be able to say you like one amp over another? Then learn to say how you like clean contacts over dirty. Cables going one way over another. Elevated cables over ones laying tangled on the floor. Warmed up system over cold. Night over day.

Go and listen. You will see.

Listen to everything you can whenever you can and care about understanding why you hear what you do. You don’t have to own something to listen and facilitate training your ears.

Also do a lot of reading to help build a good understanding of how hifi gear works. 

Gaining listening experience without spending money?

If you live anywhere near a music conservatory or University with a music program, go and attend faculty and/or student recitals. Details and schedules are usually available on the institution’s website. Attendance is usually free. Faculty members are usually musicians of very high caliber and sometimes are well known artists. The level of musicianship of graduating students can be extremely high.

If you want an audio system that will satisfy long term, there is no better thing to do than to first have a solid sense of what the real thing sounds like. Taking this approach is also likely to save you money in the long run.

Then, as far as gaining experience listening to audio equipment goes, join a local audio club; or form one. Great way to listen to other audio systems. In those University concert halls there will inevitably be a bulletin board where you can post your interest in forming a club or in socializing with like minded individuals. As I’m sure you know, audiophiles are usually more than willing to show off their audio systems.

Good luck and have fun.

You can start off by buying used components. This allows you to affordably find what you like. Later you can buy new components or higher quality used components. Of course, Audiogon is a great place to do this.