Abstract: In an arrangement for evaluating an incoming speech signal to enable the selection of a receiver with the best quality speech signal over a substantial range of input signal levels, the logarithm of the input signal is processed in an absolute value and filter circuit to obtain the envelope of the logarithm of the input waveform which is next applied to a peak detector and to a valley detector. The output voltage of the peak detector is proportional to the logarithm of the speech peaks, and the output voltage of the valley detector is proportional to the logarithm of the noise floor voltage during the speech pauses. The peak and valley detector output voltages are applied to an arithmetic circuit which provides a voltage that is a function of the ratio of the speech peaks to the intersyllable noise floor.