I had that same dilema and have found 2 ways to solve it. You can use the MC-1 in a "Logic 7" mode all the time and have a good sounding surround sound on your stereo sources. this is the way I listen most of the time. However, when I want to listen to stereo critically I have a separate Preamp (PSE HL-1 hybrid) that has a home theatre throughput switch (which turns it in to a unity gain preamp). I have the stereo outs of both my DVD player, CD player, and laserdisc player go directly into the PSE. In addition the front left and right outputs of the MC-1 go into the PSE. This way, the PSE is always in the loop for stereo, and the MC-1 is only use for multichannel. You can do this for any preamp as long as you can figure out what volume setting is unity gain, or that it has a unity gain (often called theatre mode) switch. This way you have the best of both worlds.
