A magnetic resonance (MR) receive device comprises a coil or coil array including at least one radiofrequency (RF) coil element wherein each RF coil element comprises a coil and a preamplifier connected to amplify an output of the RF coil element to generate an amplified RF signal. The MR receive device further includes an RF-over-Fiber module comprising an optical fiber, a photonic device optically coupled to send an optical signal into the optical fiber, and an RF modulator connected to modulate the optical signal by an MR signal comprising the amplified RF signal.