A receiver has a differential transimpedance amplifier (4) with two inputs and two outputs. The differential transimpedance amplifier (4) provides a differential output and this is peak-detected (15, 16) to provide amplitude reference signals. The differential transimpedance amplifier output and the amplitude reference signals are fed to a differential summing amplifier (10), which provides a fully differential signal to a comparator, or to an automatic gain control circuit (5) to regulate the differential transimpedance amplifier gain. The differential summing amplifier (10) output is a fully differential signal, thereby having lower distortion for DC and burst mode receiver applications.