The feedforward filter section of a decision feedback equalizer is modified to include one or more postcursor taps, that are sequentially weighted at decreasing binary fractions of the cursor tap. Such a modified feedforward filter section, combined with the placement of a simple anti-aliasing filter upstream of the sampling point, results in an optimum feedforward filter configuration that is not anticausal, and offers a substantially improved performance over conventional DFB equalizer structures. Optimum performance is achieved when such a postcursor filter structure is augmented with an adaptive noise canceler coupled in the DFB path.