BBE Sound MaxCom Dual Compressor with sonic Maximiser

Legendary bit of kit which is easy to get up and running with, and you can tweak it after you've got used to it. The Sonic Maximiser is what sets it apart from other compressor limited gate stuff. It analyses the overall sound and literally maximises the output in a controlled manner.
There's a red one and a black one - both are exactly the same apart from colour! Loads of reviews on line.
From BBE
The all-analog MaxCom is an easy-to-use dual channel compressor/limiter/gate and Sonic Maximizer that provides live or pre-recorded material with clean, distortion free compression. Whether the goal is to control vocals, a stereo mix or just dial in hard limiting to protect your speakers, the MaxCom will accomplish your needs with the reliability and sonic excellence.
Applications

• Recording studio
• Live sound reinforcement
  • - churches
  • - Clubs
  • - Concert halls
  • - Contracting applications

Features include

• Full-function Sonic Maximizer circuit
• World-class THAT Corporation VCAs
• Balanced or unbalanced I/O
• Dual bar-graph meters for each channel to indicate Input Level and Gain Reduction
• Key in and out via ¼" TRS

Specifications

• Frequency repsonse
  • 20 to 20,000Hz
• Signal to noise ratio
  • More than 94dB
• Total harmonic distortion (THD)
  • Less than 0.05%
• Threshold
  • -40dBu to +20dBu
• Compression ratio
  • 1:1 to 11:1
• Attack time
  • 0.1 to 200 msec
• Gate threshold
  • Off to +10dBu

It's been sitting in my study for a few years, so not open to the elements.
Can't find the box, but never gigged, it's a steal, but I'd rather you paid me :)
Musician’s Friend Expert Review:  "I found the compressor capable of some good effects with my bass guitars. It added some meat to the Ric 4003, which can sound thin in some mixes. For vocals, it did well enough for smoothing poor mic dynamics, and it worked well at punching up a main PA mix. The owner’s manual states the “compressor successfully combines the concept of a “Hard Knee” compressor with the characteristics of a “Soft Knee” approach.” Read that quote again carefully. There’s no external control, so which is it? Well, in use I found the compressor seemed to use soft knee at lower ratio settings, and sounded like hard knee when at 11:1 (limiting) ratio. I compared it A/B against another brand compressor with a Soft Knee control switch, and it seemed to coincide with this progression.

The gate has some release stuttering that made it unsuited for vocal mics, but this problem wasn’t noticeable on drum mics.

By now I can hear the drumming of fingers on the desk, and sighs of impatience…”but what about the Sonic Maximizer?” Okay, I’ll throw my virtual hat into the ring and join the fray. I had fun using it with my basses. It was a nice effect to add to my repertoire of sounds and I found it had more effect than I could achieve with the EQ on my bass amps. But for PA use, it was easy to duplicate the effect using either channel EQ on the mixer or an outboard EQ. It’s just that simple. Good EQ is easy to come by in mixers and the typical PA rig has plenty of control in this regard. Yes, I know the documentation describes all sorts of corrections to problems inherent in all speakers. I don’t hear anything that sounds better with the process on when compared with similar EQ adjustments.

The MaxCom has pretty good compressors, in line with comparably priced units. Adding the Sonic Maximizer is the make or break feature. If you like this process (and plenty of musicians do), and you also need compression, then the MaxCom is a convenient package that’ll save you at least one rack space."