This invention discloses a receiver and a signal compensation method therefor. An adaptive equalizer and a baseline wander compensator are provided on the front end of the receiver to improve the quality of output signals. The signal compensation method enables the adaptive equalizer to use a long T as its observation unit when the transmission cable is idle, and enables the baseline wander compensator for operation and controls both the adaptive equalizer and the baseline wander compensator to use a short T as its observation unit when the transmission cable is transmitting data signals. The disclosed adaptive equalizer can achieve its optimal processing effects, and the efficiency of the baseline wander compensator can be increased.