It is odd. And while I do bend a lot, its pretty rare I bend more then a minor 3rd. I got those strings from "stringsbymail.com", who are pretty reputable. But this has happened so often I've gotten into the habit of looking at the end before replacing to see whats going on. Maybe they don't put enough twists at the end compared to other brands. I can see where my kind of tailpiece doesn't offer any resistance to the tension, and the graphtek saddles I use on the top strings probably doesn't offer any frictional pullback either.

I also appreciate a darker tone for the high strings because I already use thinner strings for the highest two.

Well, there aren't brands that make a 0.0115. So I've just ordered Ernie Ball loose .009, .011 (and some .012) strings from musicians friend. If there is any visible difference I'll take pictures and post, and in any case I'll see if there is a difference. If not, I guess I'll have to try wrapping the strings once around when I install. But I've had this guitar for over 40 years and this never was a problem before the D-Adario strings