A system and method for optimally combining multi-path signals is presented. A first signal is received that traveled a first path from a transmitter to a receiving location and a second signal is received that traveled a different second path from the transmitter to the same receiving location. The paths are different so that the first and second signals contain the same signal data but the first signal has a first distortion that is different than a second distortion in the second signal. According to an objective function, the method adaptively generates a first weight value and a second weight value. The first and second weight values are applied to the respective first and second signals to produce respective first and second weighted signals. The first and second weighted signals are linearly combined producing a combined signal with a combined signal degradation.