Who we are

Who we are
  • Dr. Peter Foster

    CEO

    Peter has extensive business experience across a wide variety of industries and scale ranging from startup through public company environments. He is a creative entrepreneur with wide-ranging experience in developing innovative technologies for global markets having founded and grown numerous technology and commercial ventures.

    Peter’s business interests and experience span early stage technology commercialisation through distribution, boutique retail and eCommerce. He invented the core technology, founded and led high-tech company ChronoLogic Pty. Ltd. before repositioning the assets for divestment. In 2004 he co-founded The Electric Room, one of Australia’s first online retailers of professional audio recording equipment.

    This included development of the company’s eCommerce platform at a time when the industry was in its infancy. In 2007 he co-founded Magenta Audio, a high-end hi-fi distribution company.

    In 2009 Peter advised on the structure and business plan for a medical records startup, iDataMap Pty. Ltd. and took a leadership guidance role. In 2014 he co-founded Longwood Audio and acquired the assets of the Halcro high-end audio amplifier business.

    Peter received his PhD in Physics from the University of Adelaide. Prior to founding ChronoLogic, he held positions of Senior Laser Physicist at Norseld Pty. Ltd, an Australian medical laser manufacturer as well as Guest Scientist at the Department of Metallic Materials, University of Bayreuth, Germany, working on high-power lasers for material processing.

    Peter has extensive experience with the invention and intellectual property protection process, laser physics, materials processing, mechanical and electronic systems. He has invented numerous patented technologies and managed the entire process from invention capture through drafting and examination. Peter holds over 50 international patents and is the driver behind the reinvention of Halcro.

  • Michael Kirkham

    Managing Director

    An obsessive collector and listener of music. Mike’s CD and record collection spans two rooms. Mike was born in 1967 and has been working in the Hifi industry in Australia and the UK since he was nineteen. A accomplished musician, Mike has taken sabbaticals from hifi to indulge his true love, touring nationally and internationally fronting various folk and Jazz bands.

    Mike Steers the direction of Halcro and voices the equipment at every stage.

    In 2007 Mike established Magenta Audio in the Adelaide Hills and in recent years has focused the business towards the distribution of a few ‘hand picked’ brands, notably PS Audio, Primaluna Zu Audio and Audion. Mike bonds with customers in a way that most in the industry rarely do and his ability to forge strong relationships with his clients has been the key to his business success.

  • Lance Hewitt

    Principal Engineer

    Lance began working for Halcro before day 1. He worked closely with Bruce Candy on every element of the original dm58 amplifier long before Halcro became a company.

    Lance joined the Australian Army as an electronics apprentice at age 16. After 9 years service he left to begin a civilian career with Minelab Electronics. Starting as a test technician he moved on to be part of the product development team where he meet Bruce Candy. The two soon formed a close bond, becoming firm friends and an extremely effective development team. Over the following years Lance also helped Bruce on many side projects including an extremely low noise and highly efficient power supply, a high power ultrasonic cleaner and what would later become the Halcro dm58. Lance drifted between Bruce’s special projects and Minelab where he took the lead on the development of their industrial metal detectors.

    Once it became clear the amplifier design had progressed to the stage where a company could be built around it Lance jumped at the chance to become Halcro’s first employee.

    He continued work on its development until the release of the dm58. Lance then worked with Bruce on every Halcro product until the parent company was acquired by an other owner in 2010 when activity ceased.

    Lance then worked as a PCB and mechanical designer for a radio equipment manufacturer but continued to keep the Halcro dream alive by offering service to existing Halcro amplifier owners. A chance meeting in a second hand record shop with Mike and Peter led to discussions about creating a high end amplifier company. Lance knew exactly where the remains of Halcro where and who owned them so he simply commented, “Well I know where you can buy one”. The rest is history.

    Lance is not a full-on audiophile, although after hearing the Eclipse ESL’s this has changed a bit. He loves the Halcro brand. It gives him the chance to work on the best products of their kind. Lance often says “it would be terrible to have to get a real job”.