But one thing for sure, If I stop playing for months, I started by using the thinnest and gradually increase to 10. This I found interesting, because all this time I've never really thought of the sound coming out of this strings. I was really into what is confortable to my fingers. I curently stay at 9, I'd probably try the 11 to see how it sound.
To me, brand doesn't matter, whenever somebody coming to see and try my mod, I get new strings for my guitar :)