An acoustic microscope surface inspection system and method in which pulses of high frequency electrical energy are applied to a transducer which forms and focuses acoustic energy onto a selected location on the surface of an object and receives energy from the location and generates electrical pulses. The phase of the high frequency electrical signal pulses are stepped with respected to the phase of a reference signal at said location. An output signal is generated which is indicative of the surface of said selected location. The object is scanned to provide output signals representative of the surface at a plurality of surface locations.