9 volt or 18 volt

[bl2112]

I have a teacher who mentioned converting my active 9 volt bass to an 18 volt. What is the difference? Whats involved doing this?

 

[JMDT]

18 Volt is clearer and has 6 db more headroom. It requires adding another battery in series in the control cavity for two total.

 

[RickenBoogie]

One case where more IS better.

 

[bongomania]

Note that not all preamps are designed to be able to utilize or safely handle 18V. It's not just a question of adding another battery in series- it's first a question of finding out from the manufacturer whether that mod can be safely performed; second a question of doing the mod; and thirdly a question of listening to the results and hearing whether there was an improvement. Even if it's safe, there's no guarantee it will improve anything, as again just increasing the supply voltage doesn't guarantee the circuit design will do anything beneficial with that voltage.

The alternative is to buy a preamp which was designed for 18V.