DBX 160 distortion on compression

Hello - I have an original DBX 160 and its fully functional, but when the compressor kicks in once reaching the threshold, it gets a pretty bad "tick" on the attack. Its fine once the initial attack has passed. No problems as just a line amp.

I tried replacing all the major electrolytics (except C21 4.7 uf / 25 v NP I didn't have), no change. I haven't done a calibration yet either. Could someone narrow down where in the compression circuit to look for this problem? Could this be a bad VCA/RMS?

Also it appears DBX's FTP site is down - anyone have an alternative? I might call them.

Thanks
-kdawg

when you compress with the 160 the compression on single peaks always produce a little "tick" ... but I don't know if that sounds normal or not in your case.... a sound example would make this clear...

do you have a stereo unit? then I first would try to interchange the vca to make sure if the vca has a problem or not. but don't use too much heat on the pins.

dbx sometimes used epoxy in the vca cans, but not always. as I found out myself the vcas with epoxy fail much more often.

here's a link to the manual: http://classes.berklee.edu/mpe/pdf_files/manuals_pdf/dbx_160.pdf