A magnetic resonance imaging receiver coil provides for high SNR and high uniformity over a range of loading conditions with layers, or stacks, of independent conductive elements. The plurality of layers preload the receiver coil reducing the circuit variation as the subject coupling and loading varies. The preload is such that coil performance, or SNR, is maintained over a large range of impedance variation. This configuration is designed to exceed the performance of single trace coils over a range of impedance consistent with variations associated with different subjects, and may also incorporate coils of different resonance frequencies.