Knowing how trouble-prone this forum is with opening posts, if you've typed a thesis, get into the habit of pressing Ctrl+A and Ctrl+C before pressing 'submit'.
My first system...hard question because I'd been getting hand-me-downs from my dad's and brother's HiFis from being about 12. The first complete system I bought with my own money was an Akai midi system in 1985, when I was 16. Highlights were the tuner and cassette deck which were really quite good. Lowlights were the turntable and speakers which were really quite shocking. Speakers were top heavy with absolutely no bass from their sealed enclosures and 6" drivers. Turntable had an Audio Technica P-mount cartridge branded as an Akai, and would have been good had it not been for the awful cheap plastic build-quality and the permanent motor-hum transmitted through the plastic. At least the platter was metal. Amp was ok if not spectacular.