Lighter gauges just don't sound anywhere near as nice.
I guess most of my experience is sat in my living room, behind my guitar, and the only other guitar I meet irregularly is hand built, has Elixir light strings and sounds absolutely wonderful. But it's not a 'big' sound and I can certainly tell that the Earthwoods I hated were a significantly 'bigger' sound requiring bigger, firmer input to get the best out of them. I don't need that volume though, and my dainty little hands are better suited to needlework than steel wrestling, hence why I'm probably drawn to the weedy end of the spectrum.
Agree - heavier gauge virtually always sounds better
It's a shame there's no immediate way of telling what strings are being played on any music. It would be easier to educate my ear and work out what I really like then (rather than think I like). Mind you, I can't remember listening to or watching anything and thinking 'that guitar sounds terrible'! But then with recordings there's a lot more in play than just the strings.
I'd certainly be happier getting used to heavier strings, if only because then I'd feel like I could play on whatever's put in my hands without looking like a fraud. But realistically, that's not a situation I'm going to be in very often, whereas I'm in my living room amusing myself, my demented Mum and the dog every day, and I definitely don't need to be projecting to the back of a big room.
I suppose if I really wanted to satisfy my curiosity I could invest £150 or so in a big range of strings and make a YouTube video comparing them all. It'd only need about a million hits to make the money back.