check out the FMR Audio RNC (Really Nice Compressor). its about $180 USD or so and is AWESOME. regularly gets reviews that compare it to the $1k+ compressors.
http://www.fmraudio.com/overview.html
also as far as DBX, i use the 386 dual channel tube pre and i really like it's sound. i think they have one, the 387 or something like that, which is the mono version of the 386 that has a whole channel strip, including compression, in it
evolver