Banzai said:
There lies the problem... You're not having a casual conversation with some friends. You just posted that on the internet...
...BTW, here's more from the internet:
http://rmsaudioworks.com/RMS269.php
http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Telefunken-USA/AR-51
http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Blackspade/UM17
http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Blackspade/UM25
http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Mojave-Audio
http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/bock-audio/195
http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/ADK
http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Miktek/CV4
http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Sontronics/Helios
http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Manley/Reference-Cardioid
http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Advanced-Audio-Microphones
http://recordinghacks.com/capsules/
...care to guess which of those capsules are sourced from China?
...there's little I said that hasn't already been said by various knowledgeable people on other forum threads like this, other than what I intimated...and the point of my friend saying that, in the context of conversation, was to simply reinforce the fact that he believed the Chinese metalwork, from certain factories was more than sufficient quality to perform with any other source available...
...my comments are not in reference to what makes good economic sense, but simply that many high-profile brands choose to source their capsules from China, even when the microphones in which they are being employed are not Chinese sourced...as for the retaining ring statement, that came direct from the US manufacturer building his own capsules...if I was so far off in making these remarks, reputable sources would not have the need to chime in and defend their product...