diff --git a/docs/documentation/spray-routing/code/docs/HttpServiceExamplesSpec.scala b/docs/documentation/spray-routing/code/docs/HttpServiceExamplesSpec.scala
index cf86b40660..bef3f4fcca 100644
--- a/docs/documentation/spray-routing/code/docs/HttpServiceExamplesSpec.scala
+++ b/docs/documentation/spray-routing/code/docs/HttpServiceExamplesSpec.scala
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class HttpServiceExamplesSpec extends Specification with Specs2RouteTest {
           } ~
           post {
             // decompresses the request with Gzip or Deflate when required
-            decompressRequest {
+            decompressRequest() {
               // unmarshal with in-scope unmarshaller
               entity(as[Order]) { order =>
                 // transfer to newly spawned actor
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ class HttpServiceExamplesSpec extends Specification with Specs2RouteTest {
         cache(simpleCache) {
           // optionally compresses the response with Gzip or Deflate
           // if the client accepts compressed responses
-          compressResponse {
+          compressResponse() {
             // serve up static content from a JAR resource
             getFromResourceDirectory("docs")
           }
diff --git a/spray-routing-tests/src/test/scala/spray/routing/EncodingDirectivesSpec.scala b/spray-routing-tests/src/test/scala/spray/routing/EncodingDirectivesSpec.scala
index e58f084f75..ebbe200c7b 100644
--- a/spray-routing-tests/src/test/scala/spray/routing/EncodingDirectivesSpec.scala
+++ b/spray-routing-tests/src/test/scala/spray/routing/EncodingDirectivesSpec.scala
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
   "the compressResponse directive" should {
     "produce a GZIP compressed response if the request has no Accept-Encoding header" in {
       Get("/") ~> {
-        compressResponse { yeah }
+        compressResponse() { yeah }
       } ~> check {
         response must haveContentEncoding(gzip)
         body === HttpEntity(ContentType(`text/plain`, `UTF-8`), yeahGzipped)
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
     }
     "produce a GZIP compressed response if the request has an `Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate` header" in {
       Get("/") ~> `Accept-Encoding`(gzip, deflate) ~> {
-        compressResponse { yeah }
+        compressResponse() { yeah }
       } ~> check {
         response must haveContentEncoding(gzip)
         body === HttpEntity(ContentType(`text/plain`, `UTF-8`), yeahGzipped)
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
     }
     "produce a Deflate compressed response if the request has an `Accept-Encoding: deflate` header" in {
       Get("/") ~> `Accept-Encoding`(deflate) ~> {
-        compressResponse { yeah }
+        compressResponse() { yeah }
       } ~> check {
         response must haveContentEncoding(deflate)
         body === HttpEntity(ContentType(`text/plain`, `UTF-8`), yeahDeflated)
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
     }
     "produce an uncompressed response if the request has an `Accept-Encoding: identity` header" in {
       Get("/") ~> `Accept-Encoding`(identity) ~> {
-        compressResponse { completeOk }
+        compressResponse() { completeOk }
       } ~> check {
         response === Ok
         response must haveNoContentEncoding
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
   "the compressResponseIfRequested directive" should {
     "produce an uncompressed response if the request has no Accept-Encoding header" in {
       Get("/") ~> {
-        compressResponseIfRequested { yeah }
+        compressResponseIfRequested() { yeah }
       } ~> check {
         response must haveNoContentEncoding
         body === HttpEntity(ContentType(`text/plain`, `UTF-8`), "Yeah!")
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
     }
     "produce a GZIP compressed response if the request has an `Accept-Encoding: deflate, gzip` header" in {
       Get("/") ~> `Accept-Encoding`(deflate, gzip) ~> {
-        compressResponseIfRequested { yeah }
+        compressResponseIfRequested() { yeah }
       } ~> check {
         response must haveContentEncoding(gzip)
         body === HttpEntity(ContentType(`text/plain`, `UTF-8`), yeahGzipped)
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
     }
     "produce a Deflate encoded response if the request has an `Accept-Encoding: deflate` header" in {
       Get("/") ~> `Accept-Encoding`(deflate) ~> {
-        compressResponseIfRequested { yeah }
+        compressResponseIfRequested() { yeah }
       } ~> check {
         response must haveContentEncoding(deflate)
         body === HttpEntity(ContentType(`text/plain`, `UTF-8`), yeahDeflated)
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
     }
     "produce an uncompressed response if the request has an `Accept-Encoding: identity` header" in {
       Get("/") ~> `Accept-Encoding`(identity) ~> {
-        compressResponseIfRequested { completeOk }
+        compressResponseIfRequested() { completeOk }
       } ~> check {
         response === Ok
         response must haveNoContentEncoding
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
   "the compressResponseWith directive" should {
     "produce a response compressed with the specified Encoder if the request has a matching Accept-Encoding header" in {
       Get("/") ~> `Accept-Encoding`(gzip) ~> {
-        compressResponseWith(Gzip) { yeah }
+        compressResponse(Gzip) { yeah }
       } ~> check {
         response must haveContentEncoding(gzip)
         body === HttpEntity(ContentType(`text/plain`, `UTF-8`), yeahGzipped)
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
     }
     "produce a response compressed with one of the specified Encoders if the request has a matching Accept-Encoding header" in {
       Get("/") ~> `Accept-Encoding`(deflate) ~> {
-        compressResponseWith(Gzip, Deflate) { yeah }
+        compressResponse(Gzip, Deflate) { yeah }
       } ~> check {
         response must haveContentEncoding(deflate)
         body === HttpEntity(ContentType(`text/plain`, `UTF-8`), yeahDeflated)
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
     }
     "produce a response compressed with the first of the specified Encoders if the request has no Accept-Encoding header" in {
       Get("/") ~> {
-        compressResponseWith(Gzip, Deflate) { yeah }
+        compressResponse(Gzip, Deflate) { yeah }
       } ~> check {
         response must haveContentEncoding(gzip)
         body === HttpEntity(ContentType(`text/plain`, `UTF-8`), yeahGzipped)
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
     }
     "reject the request if it has an Accept-Encoding header with an encoding that doesn't match" in {
       Get("/") ~> `Accept-Encoding`(deflate) ~> {
-        compressResponseWith(Gzip) { yeah }
+        compressResponse(Gzip) { yeah }
       } ~> check {
         rejection === UnacceptedResponseEncodingRejection(gzip)
       }
@@ -372,31 +372,29 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
   "the decompressRequest directive" should {
     "decompress the request content if it has a `Content-Encoding: gzip` header and the content is gzip encoded" in {
       Get("/", helloGzipped) ~> `Content-Encoding`(gzip) ~> {
-        decompressRequest { echoRequestContent }
+        decompressRequest() { echoRequestContent }
       } ~> check { entityAs[String] === "Hello" }
     }
     "decompress the request content if it has a `Content-Encoding: deflate` header and the content is deflate encoded" in {
       Get("/", helloDeflated) ~> `Content-Encoding`(deflate) ~> {
-        decompressRequest { echoRequestContent }
+        decompressRequest() { echoRequestContent }
       } ~> check { entityAs[String] === "Hello" }
     }
     "decompress the request content if it has a `Content-Encoding: identity` header and the content is not encoded" in {
       Get("/", "yes") ~> `Content-Encoding`(identity) ~> {
-        decompressRequest { echoRequestContent }
+        decompressRequest() { echoRequestContent }
       } ~> check { entityAs[String] === "yes" }
     }
     "decompress the request content using NoEncoding if no Content-Encoding header is present" in {
-      Get("/", "yes") ~> decompressRequest { echoRequestContent } ~> check { entityAs[String] === "yes" }
+      Get("/", "yes") ~> decompressRequest() { echoRequestContent } ~> check { entityAs[String] === "yes" }
     }
     "reject the request if it has a `Content-Encoding: deflate` header but the request is compressed with Gzip" in {
       Get("/", helloGzipped) ~> `Content-Encoding`(deflate) ~> {
-        decompressRequest { echoRequestContent }
+        decompressRequest() { echoRequestContent }
       } ~> check {
-        rejections must beLike {
-          case Seq(UnsupportedRequestEncodingRejection(`gzip`),
-            CorruptRequestEncodingRejection(_),
-            UnsupportedRequestEncodingRejection(`identity`)) ⇒ ok
-        }
+        rejections(0) === UnsupportedRequestEncodingRejection(gzip)
+        rejections(1) must beAnInstanceOf[CorruptRequestEncodingRejection]
+        rejections(2) === UnsupportedRequestEncodingRejection(identity)
       }
     }
   }
@@ -406,18 +404,18 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
   "the decompressRequestWith directive" should {
     "decompress the request content if its `Content-Encoding` header matches the specified encoder" in {
       Get("/", helloGzipped) ~> `Content-Encoding`(gzip) ~> {
-        decompressRequestWith(Gzip) { echoRequestContent }
+        decompressRequest(Gzip) { echoRequestContent }
       } ~> check { entityAs[String] === "Hello" }
     }
     "reject the request if its `Content-Encoding` header doesn't match the specified encoder" in {
       Get("/", helloGzipped) ~> `Content-Encoding`(deflate) ~> {
-        decompressRequestWith(Gzip) { echoRequestContent }
+        decompressRequest(Gzip) { echoRequestContent }
       } ~> check {
         rejection === UnsupportedRequestEncodingRejection(gzip)
       }
     }
     "reject the request when decompressing with GZIP and no Content-Encoding header is present" in {
-      Get("/", "yes") ~> decompressRequestWith(Gzip) { echoRequestContent } ~> check {
+      Get("/", "yes") ~> decompressRequest(Gzip) { echoRequestContent } ~> check {
         rejection === UnsupportedRequestEncodingRejection(gzip)
       }
     }
@@ -426,7 +424,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
 
   //# decompress-compress-combination-example
   "the (decompressRequest & compressResponse) compound directive" should {
-    val decompressCompress = (decompressRequest & compressResponse)
+    val decompressCompress = (decompressRequest() & compressResponse())
     "decompress a GZIP compressed request and produce a GZIP compressed response if the request has no Accept-Encoding header" in {
       Get("/", helloGzipped) ~> `Content-Encoding`(gzip) ~> {
         decompressCompress { echoRequestContent }
@@ -455,7 +453,7 @@ class EncodingDirectivesSpec extends RoutingSpec {
   //#
 
   "the (decompressRequest & compressResponseIfRequested) compound directive" should {
-    val decompressCompressIfRequested = (decompressRequest & compressResponseIfRequested)
+    val decompressCompressIfRequested = (decompressRequest() & compressResponseIfRequested())
     "decode a GZIP encoded request and produce a non-encoded response if the request has no Accept-Encoding header" in {
       Get("/", helloGzipped) ~> `Content-Encoding`(gzip) ~> {
         decompressCompressIfRequested { echoRequestContent }
diff --git a/spray-routing/src/main/scala/spray/routing/directives/EncodingDirectives.scala b/spray-routing/src/main/scala/spray/routing/directives/EncodingDirectives.scala
index 9872ed6947..2750a3fa7b 100644
--- a/spray-routing/src/main/scala/spray/routing/directives/EncodingDirectives.scala
+++ b/spray-routing/src/main/scala/spray/routing/directives/EncodingDirectives.scala
@@ -20,9 +20,11 @@ package directives
 import spray.util._
 import spray.http._
 import spray.httpx.encoding._
+import akka.actor.ActorRefFactory
 
 trait EncodingDirectives {
   import BasicDirectives._
+  import ChunkingDirectives._
   import MiscDirectives._
   import RouteDirectives._
 
@@ -55,7 +57,8 @@ trait EncodingDirectives {
   /**
    * Wraps its inner Route with encoding support using the given Encoder.
    */
-  def encodeResponse(encoder: Encoder) = {
+  def encodeResponse(magnet: EncodeResponseMagnet) = {
+    import magnet._
     def applyEncoder = mapRequestContext { ctx ⇒
       @volatile var compressor: Compressor = null
       ctx.withHttpResponsePartMultiplied {
@@ -76,7 +79,8 @@ trait EncodingDirectives {
     }
     responseEncodingAccepted(encoder.encoding) &
       applyEncoder &
-      cancelAllRejections(ofType[UnacceptedResponseEncodingRejection])
+      cancelAllRejections(ofType[UnacceptedResponseEncodingRejection]) &
+      autoChunkFileBytes(autoChunkThreshold, autoChunkSize)
   }
 
   /**
@@ -88,41 +92,65 @@ trait EncodingDirectives {
       .flatMap(if (_) pass else reject(UnacceptedResponseEncodingRejection(encoding)))
 
   /**
-   * Wraps its inner Route with response compression, only falling back to
-   * uncompressed responses if the client specifically requests the "identity"
-   * encoding and preferring Gzip over Deflate.
+   * Wraps its inner Route with response compression, using the specified
+   * encoders in the given order of preference.
+   * If no encoders are specifically given Gzip, Deflate and NoEncoding
+   * are used in this order, depending on what the client accepts.
    */
-  def compressResponse: Directive0 = compressResponseWith(Gzip, Deflate, NoEncoding)
+  def compressResponse(magnet: CompressResponseMagnet): Directive0 = {
+    import magnet._
+    encoders.tail.foldLeft(encodeResponse(encoders.head)) { (r, encoder) ⇒ r | encodeResponse(encoder) }
+  }
 
   /**
    * Wraps its inner Route with response compression if and only if the client
-   * specifically requests compression with an Accept-Encoding header.
-   */
-  def compressResponseIfRequested: Directive0 = compressResponseWith(NoEncoding, Gzip, Deflate)
-
-  /**
-   * Wraps its inner Route with response compression, using the specified
-   * encoders in order of preference.
+   * specifically requests compression with an `Accept-Encoding` header.
    */
-  def compressResponseWith(first: Encoder, more: Encoder*): Directive0 =
-    if (more.isEmpty) encodeResponse(first)
-    else more.foldLeft(encodeResponse(first)) { (r, encoder) ⇒ r | encodeResponse(encoder) }
+  def compressResponseIfRequested(magnet: CompressResponseMagnet): Directive0 = {
+    import magnet._
+    compressResponse(NoEncoding, Gzip, Deflate)
+  }
 
   /**
-   * Wraps its inner Route with request decompression, assuming
-   * Gzip compressed requests but falling back to Deflate or no
-   * compression if the request contains the relevant Content-Encoding
-   * header.
+   * Decompresses the incoming request if it is GZip or Deflate encoded.
+   * Uncompressed requests are passed on to the inner route unchanged.
    */
-  def decompressRequest: Directive0 = decompressRequestWith(Gzip, Deflate, NoEncoding)
+  def decompressRequest(): Directive0 = decompressRequest(Gzip, Deflate, NoEncoding)
 
   /**
-   * Wraps its inner Route with request decompression, trying the specified
-   * decoders in turn.
+   * Decompresses the incoming request if it encoded with one of the given
+   * encoders. If the request encoding doesn't match one of the given encoders
+   * the request is rejected with an `UnsupportedRequestEncodingRejection`.
    */
-  def decompressRequestWith(first: Decoder, more: Decoder*): Directive0 =
+  def decompressRequest(first: Decoder, more: Decoder*): Directive0 =
     if (more.isEmpty) decodeRequest(first)
     else more.foldLeft(decodeRequest(first)) { (r, decoder) ⇒ r | decodeRequest(decoder) }
 }
 
 object EncodingDirectives extends EncodingDirectives
+
+class EncodeResponseMagnet(val encoder: Encoder, val autoChunkThreshold: Long = 128 * 1024,
+                           val autoChunkSize: Int = 128 * 1024)(implicit val refFactory: ActorRefFactory)
+object EncodeResponseMagnet {
+  implicit def fromEncoder(encoder: Encoder)(implicit factory: ActorRefFactory): EncodeResponseMagnet =
+    new EncodeResponseMagnet(encoder)
+  implicit def fromEncoderThresholdAndChunkSize(t: (Encoder, Long, Int))(implicit factory: ActorRefFactory): EncodeResponseMagnet =
+    new EncodeResponseMagnet(t._1, t._2, t._3)
+}
+
+class CompressResponseMagnet(val encoders: List[Encoder])(implicit val refFactory: ActorRefFactory)
+object CompressResponseMagnet {
+  implicit def fromUnit(u: Unit)(implicit refFactory: ActorRefFactory): CompressResponseMagnet =
+    new CompressResponseMagnet(Gzip :: Deflate :: NoEncoding :: Nil)
+  implicit def fromEncoders1(e: Encoder)(implicit refFactory: ActorRefFactory): CompressResponseMagnet =
+    new CompressResponseMagnet(e :: Nil)
+  implicit def fromEncoders2(t: (Encoder, Encoder))(implicit refFactory: ActorRefFactory): CompressResponseMagnet =
+    new CompressResponseMagnet(t._1 :: t._2 :: Nil)
+  implicit def fromEncoders3(t: (Encoder, Encoder, Encoder))(implicit refFactory: ActorRefFactory): CompressResponseMagnet =
+    new CompressResponseMagnet(t._1 :: t._2 :: t._3 :: Nil)
+}
+
+class RefFactoryMagnet(implicit val refFactory: ActorRefFactory)
+object RefFactoryMagnet {
+  implicit def fromUnit(u: Unit)(implicit refFactory: ActorRefFactory): RefFactoryMagnet = new RefFactoryMagnet
+}
\ No newline at end of file