A variable geometry coil system includes a single fixed horizontal coil and a vertically oriented pair of movable coils interconnected through an electronic matrix to allow for a multi-mode system which enables either the vertical pair or the horizontal coil to function alone or to enable a quadrature combination of the coils for optimum signal performance. The vertical coil pair includes two matched coils which are loaded to reduce their tuning sharpness so as to eliminate the need for clinical tuning prior to utilization. Signal losses incurred by the Q reduction are compensated for by including an integrated preamplifier at the signal output.