First system, way back in 1971 was a Sansui 20wpc receiver, Rectilinear 1A speakers, BSR record changer with a Shure cartridge and a Sony cassette deck (pre Dolby B). System was around $575.00 give or take a little. Speakers were connected with 16 gauge lamp cords and the RCA cables were a couple of bucks per pair. I listened to Tull, Zeppelin, ELP, Floyd, Yes , etc. I bought everything brand new with the money I saved over the summer from working at Burger Chef. I felt like I was on top of the world.
your first system-
I put together my first system in 1977- turntable, receiver, speakers and a cassette deck- $600. An on-line inflation calculator tells me that is $2760 in 2022 dollars. I am sure a current $1500 streaming based system can be assembled that would demolish my 1977 system. That's what I call real progress!