I don't think your question has an absolute answer. Like all things, it depends on the particular units being considered. If you have an inexpensive or poorly designed integrated, the pre-amp section will not be as good as a stand alone unit. If you have a top notch integrated, then some money and design effort would have been put into the pre-amp section. There is no reason why it couldn't perform as well as comparably priced stand alone units.
However, in any case, I would expect the pre-amp section of an integrated to perform better when the integrated is used solely as a pre-amp. This is because the power supply would be dedicated to the pre-amp rather than being spread out over the pre-amp and power amp sections.
The answer in your specific case with the Musical Fidelity units would be to stop "eyeing" them and start "listening" to them :)
However, in any case, I would expect the pre-amp section of an integrated to perform better when the integrated is used solely as a pre-amp. This is because the power supply would be dedicated to the pre-amp rather than being spread out over the pre-amp and power amp sections.
The answer in your specific case with the Musical Fidelity units would be to stop "eyeing" them and start "listening" to them :)