I did find a difference in tone. Can't say if it was better or worse, just a little different. A little thicker sounding maybe. I was hoping for a tighter lower end, but I'm not sure it made that much of a difference there. (Assuming I use the descriptive terms correctly. I have only recently assimilated the aural quality of "chunky". :o)

I've been wanting to try one of those fancy coated sets. I'm leery of making the investment in case they don't really last that long, but folks on this board claim they do. Usually I just use D'Addario round wound.

lol @ dating the strings. I also do that! :) Have for years. Which guitar and the date. Funny, when I dusted off my cases and pulled out the guitars, I had packages only dated by the year. I now date them by the day. I change every couple of weeks, which is pushing it, but back then I experienced a lot of character building (read: poverty!) so getting new strings was a really big deal.