I was literally minutes from purchasing the Special 40's...

what's your room size?  if you have a small room, i suggest spending a third of your budget, and get a pair of proac tablette 8 reference signatures.  better than the 1sc's; i've heard 'em both in my big room, (as well as tablette 2000's), and the ref 8 signatures are better, from mid-bass on up.  in a smaller room, it shouldn't matter.

in my big (26x38x8.5) room, they were crossed at 60hz to vmps larger subs, and it was amazing what room filling sound i got - it remained clean even at way-loud levels.  in a smaller room, subs would be optional.  (for most folks, that is - even in a small room, i'd have a pair of subs; not necessarily as large as my vmps' - which you could afford, if spending ~$1k on the monitors. in fact, i'd choose subs/monitors over only monitors any day, regardless of budget and room size.)

doug s.

I recently heard an original LS3/5a (15 ohm) in a direct comparison with a current ProAc Tablette.  Both sounded very good.  The Tablette had a more open and extended top end, and in that sense, it is more comparable to other "modern" speakers.  The old Rogers BBC monitor  LS3/5a (it was actually bought from a BBC auction) has a more meaty, full and dense sound.  If I had to pick between them, I would go with the older model. 

This past weekend, I heard the latest Harbeth P3ESR, but not in comparison with anything else.  It sounded quite good too.  These tiny speakers are quite amazing.

I really appreciate all the responses here. A lot of food for thought. While still ever-so-slightly leaning toward the Dynaudios, whichever I choose are going to share a room with Spatial M3 Turbos and be primarily for more late, intimate sessions. Not going to rush this. Definitely going to give the Harbeths another listen. Man, I would love to see a shootout between the P3ESR and the Falcon Gold badges. Also, whoever posted about the LSA-10 Statements, you got my attention. Wow, those look nice.

Special 40's with speaker stands and a small hi quality sub have an amazingly big sound with great musicality.  Image like a mifo...go 40's!

I’d go for a used pair of Graham LS5/9s. Fantastic natural sounding speaker with one of the best midranges (see the reviews) and plenty of dynamics - something you’ll never find in an LS3/5; and that ‘unnatural’ lack of dynamics is not worth the midrange, not long term anyway IMHO.
I’ve owned a pair of P3ESRs and found 1) that the volume needs to be turned up quite a bit for the speaker to come alive and 2) that there is something about the limited dynamics that proved very unsatisfactory in the long run. It’s not that I crave lots of bass and dynamics, but ultimately the limitations made for a somewhat one dimensional experience, at the cost of not being a truly universal musical transducer. 
I now have a pair of new Graham LS6 and they are a better balance midrange and dynamics/bass.

However, I’ve already traded up to the Graham LS5/9f floorstander, which is a much more satisfying speaker, which to my ears has magical midrange to challenge any LS3/5-iteration.

The monitor LS5/9 is basically the same though and can be had for less that 3000 USD used (see HiFishark.com) - fantastic speaker! Good luck 😉 

https://youtu.be/bu6Gm0yP0yM