LS3/5A & Pass Labs

all the ls 3/5's have the same refined musical quality. i would think the sterlings would be no exception. it is still relitively easy to find harbeth,rogers and spendor. kef's are maybe a bit more rare.

What about chartwell?

I have the Chartwell's 15Ohms and a friend of mine has Rogers 11 Ohms and another one Rogers 15 Ohms. I have in my own system compared the Rogers 11 Ohms and my Chartwells, although strictly speaking both the speakers more or less had similar sound but if one goes deep down into the nitty gritty of things than there is a difference between the two, at least to my ears.

I found Rogers to be able to handle the Rock better than Chartwells and had a bit punchier bass.

The Chartwells on the other hand were smoother at the top end and had better resolving capability when it came to the female vocals as well as slightly deeper bass. (not in volume).

Now when it comes down to personal preference one needs to consider one of the two. I personally prefer the sound of Chartwells.

By the way Chartwells are 15 Ohms

Regarding integrating a sub- with a little time and effort with a sound meter and test cd you can do it nicely. Using a crossover and an active sub means less work for your 30 wpc amp since it will not see frequencies below your crossover point. You can also insert a relatively inexpensive DSP-based parametric equalizer between the crossover and sub to quell any problem bass frequencies that you identify with the meter/test cd.
Using this approach with an aleph P, aleph 30, bryston crossover and REL subs worked great for me.

Well,

Last night I finally got a pair of Harbeths in black. They are in great condition...much better than the stuff in the shops. The nice guy that I bought them from gave me a quick demo, and I was ready to go.

Now all I have to do is find some good stands.... It's kinda funny, but they sound fantastic just sitting on my hardwood floor.

Foundation Designer and Music Tools seem to be the only two choices in Hong Kong, and Foundation seems to be heavily favored.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I'll get back to you all when I have it properly set up.