Legacy Devices Maintenance Productivity

Logitech Z305 Repair – Hardware Level

At the start of the new year, I had wanted to produce loud sounds coming from the PC using a long sound mix from DJ Shapeshifter. And so I plugged in my Logitech Z305 speakers and raised all the levels… big mistake. That ended up ripping the membrane because of the displacement of the cone and the speakers became unusable because of a constant cracking sound at all practical levels when bass frequencies come into play.

Last night, I used it again and got sick of the sound and so I began to search for possible fixes short of throwing it away. Naturally there should be a need to open it up so that everything is visible and, having tinkered with a few mice from the same company, I began with taking all the screws out – 10 of them.

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I also removed the rubber because sometimes they like to hide screws there, no screws, next I attempted to pry it apart from the seam while holding up the clip but it doesnt seem to budge and I figured that the sides miGht be keeping the assembly in place and I finally focused my attention to it.

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Turns out, this was the only thing that I needed to take out and I already have access to the speaker units. Finally I was able to really see the problem which was – the ripped membrane. pushing down the cone revealed the damage extent and I marked that with green ink to denote the beginning and end of the rip. It was almost the entire perimeter, horrific ><

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Research reveals that patching this up is fairly common practice for repair and one of the possible repair materials was – tissue paper! Its basically creating a patch using tissue and glue, like creating a paper mache. I used an old nail polish brush for an even application and good old Elmer’s white glue, undiluted.

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I cut up several strips of tissue (around 3x10mm each) and ran that around in between the cone and the membrane, making sure they cover and overlap with all the areas that had ripped apart. I let it sit overnight so that the glue gets a chance to harden and I tested it this morning. A resounding success, pun intended.

So if you’re up for a bit of tinkering, know that it’s quite easy to do so, granted my solution is less than aesthetic, but this gets covered by the grill anyway. Very happy with my speaker’s revival, and if you’re attempting it, hope the results are as positive as mine went.

On to the next project then ^^

About the author

Mark O.

Mark is an architect and artist who endeavors to design most anything that requires a little bit of thought into it.

Although writing is not considered a primary focus, a little too much time can yield many thoughts that are just begging to be written down.

Armed with a trusty array of content creation devices and surrounded with a continuous flux of technology and life, herein lies those that are fortunate enough to have been given presence through a little bit of movement and a whole lot of iterations.

39 Comments

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Leave a Reply to jared Cancel reply

  • THANK YOU SO MUCH! My Logitech Z305 soundbar speakers, which are absolutley superb, finally started buzzing. I wasn’t TOO upset at the time, since I’d had them for years; I was just annoyed. So I went looking to replace them. NUH UH! Not only are they no longer available or manufactured, Logitech has NO tech info for them at their support site. Soooo … next stop … online shopping. To my horror, these are now selling on amazon for upwards of (sometimes) $700.00. this was astounding to me, since I’d only paid $50 formineat Target yeaers ago. Next stop eBay. 3 available. And,man, they were being hounded on by snipers like they are gold, which I guess … in a way, they are.

    Next attempt … look for online repair instructions. VOILA! How lucky was I to find you!? I followed your instructions, but used the kind of tissue paper you’d find in a gift box. Worked like a gem.

    THANKS AGAIN, BUD!!!

    • That’s fantastic that you were able to get them sounding nice again Willy! Thank you for dropping by ^^ Great choice on paper BTW

  • Hi Mark

    Your repair tips are comprehensive and effective, thank you so much. I use my Logitech Z305 for work and it travels all over the world with me. I became frustrated with an increasingly worsening crackle over the last few years and thought I would have to either replace it (very hard to find a replacement, as Logitech don’t make them anymore they now go for a fortune online) or dump it.

    Following your advice I discovered that both membranes were ripped and repaired them with tissue paper and glue. Crystal clear sound has been restored, and with black electrical tape around where the rubber grill seals used to be it looks brand new. Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to help out those of us who also love the Z305 and find it so hard to replace in the world of bluetooth rechargeable speakers.

    Cheers

    Leigh

    • Thanks for dropping by Leigh. That’s true what you said about the world of bluetooth speakers we live in today, glad to learn that your Z305 is up and ready to play music for you once more ^^ Cheers!

  • You can also cannibalize the Logitech iPad/Tablet speaker bar (US$18) model 984-000193. It uses the exact same mini-speakers & they can easily be swapped in about 15 minutes. Accessing the speakers in the Tablet speaker bar is essentially the same: you have to pry off the end screen, but there is a plastic collar around it instead of a rubber one. You have to lightly hammer a small flathead screwdriver against the edge of the screen to pry it off. Once that’s done, remove the four screws holding in the speaker, take a soldering iron to heat up the two connecting wires to release them Do the same on the broken speaker to remove it. The wires are already tinned & there’s enough solder on the speaker’s contacts to reheat them & insert the old connecting wires from the LAPTOP speaker bar. Replace the 4 screws, put the screen back on and re-glue the rubber–you’re done.

    • If the speakers are the same, how does the Z305 sound any better? If I hook up this one to the headphone and USB ports of my laptop (for charging), would the sound be as good as the Z305? Thanks.

    • isn’t that speaker essentially the same but with chargeable battery. much more convenient for use with iPad etc. that cannot power the Z305. why cannibalize it? ;- )

  • Hey Mark! Just wanted to say thank you! You are saving lives out there. One side of my speaker has been blown for more than a year, so I had to turn that side off completely, but it was extremely bothersome since I had to set the balance every time Windows reset it itself. I was finally fed up, and I was so close to buying a new speaker. Seeing that there aren’t any good alternatives out there, I was beginning to be curious if I could possibly fix it. I saw your blog, followed your instructions, and here I am, listening to music on both speakers 🙂

    Thank you so much for taking your time to write this blog, otherwise I would have settled.

  • Oh my god, this worked brilliantly! I was so bummed when my speaker started making crackling noises; it’s the best laptop speaker! I tried taking it apart but to no avail. I was about to trash it when I found your post. Thank you, it’s working perfectly now!

    • It’s a fantastic fix, just don’t overstress the speakers so that you won’t need to do it again in the future ^^ Enjoy!

      • Was hoping your fix would fix the extreme fuzziness that just developed in my Logitech Z305 left speaker but no joy, The membrane is perfectly intact. Just emailed you a pic. Any other ideas? Thanks.

  • Thanks, this worked flawlessly. We used tissue paper used for a perm/permanent wave (my wive is a heardresser).

  • I was also annoyed with the crackle of my speakers i took out of the closet to use for the meetings etc when we started working from home due to COVID . i opened up all screws and was still stuck when i saw your tip.

    i carefully took out the rubber “mask” around the speaker grill in one piece and without ripping it off, popped out the grill as you wrote and repaired the speaker surround with UHU glue (just spread it around on it and let it dry) first try iafter half an hour of drying s good but letting it dry more. hope it holds.

  • Works like a charm, I almost trashed this speaker before discovering your tutorial. My Z305 started buzzing after a day of use which had me really bummed considering how much I overpaid for it.

    Thank you.

    Dwayne

  • Hi there Mark,

    I also own a Logitech Z305 which I’ve had close to 10 years and it really served me well over the years. I bought it for R350.00 at the time which was ±$50.00 back then. These days you have to sell your house to afford another one.

    Since the beginning of our lockdown (27 March) I started noticing sound distortion in the output especially when I listened to a person speaking like on many Youtube videos. With music it was less noticeable. It bothered me that I couldn’t get the unit open by removing the large number of screws and I started searching the web for instructions on how to open it only.

    I’m so glad I found your blog with these instructions which was more than what I was initially looking for and exactly what I needed. It literally took me 15 minutes to perform the repair. I left it overnight and the next morning — Success!!!!!

    Thank you very much!!!

    -Adriaan

  • Mark,

    Thanks for the instruction. I have been looking for a “fix” to my Z305 for a long time. My wife absolutely loves this speaker, but the cracking sound just too unbearable. So, my Z305 has been lying on the table for close to two years. I know it’s something to do with the membranes, because the cracking sound problem was very similar to the repair I did to the real large speaker. The problem was that I did not know how to open the grill up.

    After seeing your instruction, I realized that all I needed to do is to “separate” the rubber mask from the grill and expose the little hole to pry up the grill. There is no need to cut the rubber mask. Then I follow your instruction, using tissue and glue to fix the membrane, let it dry overnight.

    I plugged the Z305 back to my wife’s laptop this morning, and sound came out so smooth without any cracking sound. My wife was over-joy with this fix.

    Thanks for the instruction.

    Steve C.

    • Hello,

      Mine isn’t working also. I didn’t try your repair yet because the membranes seem intact to me.
      They seem very solid and without ripping.
      They just don’t do ANY sound.
      The light comes on and they are detected by Windows.
      As I remember, the jack is input source. Could it be that the PCB is damaged and detecting jack input?

      I have the speaker completely open, I have access to the PCB, do you have suggestions or any site that went further into inspecting the electronics?

      Thank you!

  • I don’t know if you still check this, but just wanted to thank you for posting this. I bought mine in 2012. It was only about $25. back then. Never having an external speaker for my laptop before I thought it was “normal” sound. Little did I know years later when looking for another one for a different computer, they all were terrible compared to this one.
    The last 6 months I’ve been living with buzzing. Looking at the price for a USED 305 was eye opening and I realized I got a good deal on mine even in 2012. So I went searching and found your instructions. I’m not a tech person, but I was able to fix the speaker and now it sounds great. THANK YOU SO MUCH

  • Thank you sooo much, mine was crackling a bit, and I was already sad bc of it. So I went away for 2 months and it stayed unused for the period, tomorrow I came back and when I plugged it, it was making a horrible sound. So i searched to buy a new one, and to my surprise, 500 dollars on amazon??? So i searched for anyone with the same issue and I found your post! The right membraine of mine was ripped almost 360, and the left one was ripped in two places, I basicaly had to reconstruct them out of tissue paper, but now it’s 100%!!

  • Just want to also thank you for the home repair instructions for logitech’s z305 speaker. Mine also had the same speaker crackling from the right side. I followed your instructions and no more blown speaker sound. Love my z305 again!

  • I had the exact same issues with my Logitech’s z305’s so I simply and carefully pride the metal speaker grill’s out from the unit’s and applied a thin coat of clear 100 percent silicone on the black cracked portion of the speakers, let completely dry and they sound good as when I bought them brand new. Plus I don’t have to ever possibly worry about blowing the speakers out again considering the rubber silicone acts as part of the speaker, function wise.

    • I can only wish I’d known about the rubber silicone then XD. It’s great that the Z305 is still serviceable to this date!

  • Thank you, this worked. I think I added too much Elmer’s glue as a line of glue was visible around the cone. While the treble is back to being crystal clear, I feel that I may have lost quite a bit of bass by gluing it. I am not certain though, as it has been a long time since this speaker sounded correct. Thanks again.

  • Many thanks to Mark O. and to everyone who chimed in! I was able to repair my beloved Logitech Z305 of the constant buzzing using a clear silicone sealer. I carefully applied the silicone sealer with a toothpick to the torn areas. Voila!

  • Logitech repaired! I used DAP clear 100% silicone sealant, applied with a Q-tip to the ripped part of the membrane, and the part that wasn’t ripped for extra strength against future tears (or maybe for no good reason?), then let it sit overnight. So far it sounds great! I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with eBay’s dispute process so I’m glad this worked out. I put a hole in the black rubber while trying to pry off the grill, so any readers should be careful to pry from only a short distance inside the rubber gasket and with downward pressure, not straight ahead. There are notches on the top of the grill on either side that line up with the power and volume buttons, and if you get the screwdriver into those notches it will come right off with a bit of force. I used a miniature flathead screwdriver from a cheap kit of jeweler’s tools. First I tried the straight one (which put the hole in the gasket) and then switched to the curved tool when I realized where the notches were located.

    The Z305 works very well for what I wanted: A compact unit that will not create a lot of desktop clutter or add to the rat’s nest of wires, and bonus points that I can easily take it with me. It sounds great for such a small speaker! The sound is noticeably tinny and hollow compared to the Definitive W Studio sound bar in the other room, but that’s a grossly unfair comparison since the Definitive originally retailed for over a thousand bucks, is much larger and not designed for portability, and has a wireless subwoofer. The Definitive also far better than any other sound bar I’ve ever heard with the exception of the Sonos Arc. The Z305 provides enjoyable sound for the bedroom and can output sound from a Windows PC as well as my MacBook, unlike the HomePod Mini that I was considering as the other option. If I ever decide to sell it, I’m sure I can get equal or more than the $120 I paid for the unit and the $9 I paid for the sealant. I wish I had known about this thing ten years ago when they retailed for 60 bucks!

    • I started getting some buzzing again so I pried off the grill and found that I was still able to open the cuts on the membranes, so I applied a lot more silicone grease and I’m going to let it sit all day and night before I try to use it again. Will report back if that fixes it or not.

      • After the third attempt, I am giving up on the silicone method. The buzzing comes back after about 10 minutes each time, even though I used a generous amount of sealant on the entire gasket last time. Maybe I’ll try the tissue paper method, but I’m leaning towards just getting the iPad / tablet version for $35 and taking the driver assembly from that speaker per Harriaman Nelson’s comment above.

        • I ended up getting the iPad / tablet model and cannibalizing it. To answer someone’s previous question, that model is much smaller than the Z305 and the sound quality is nowhere near the same even though it uses the same drivers. However, it only took a few hours for the new membrane to rip as well, and not at max volume. I think the rubber must degrade over time, and most of these things are pretty old, even if they are new old stock like the tablet speaker. I ended up getting some Elmer’s all-purpose glue and cutting tiny strips off of a coffee filter for the patch, and that seems to have worked. I would caution anyone reading to use the “paper mache” method described in the blog post and not the silicone method, which was a total failure for me.

          Even though this latest fix seems to be holding up, I am going to sell the Z305. The sound quality is impressive for such a small device, but it’s not as amazing as I had been led to believe, and I ended up finding a great deal on a pair of Definitive W7 speakers that are in a completely different category to the Z305 in every respect. The Z305 just doesn’t output good enough sound to keep taking that grill off and fixing tears in the membranes, so I’m going to pass it along and then it will be someone else’s problem.

          • i also had less than success with both glue and silicone. i suspect this product wasn’t designed for today’s computers’ sound capabilities and ad videos and other unexpected sounds come through too loud and blow the darn things too easily. this would explain why my first lasted me many years but since, i don’t want to tell you how many i’ve gone through (or replaced speakers on with ones from the ipad speaker). i’m constantly on the prowl for used ones cheap (yes you can occasionally find one for $40, $50 or less even) and now the ipad ones (even cheaper). i am now trying to baby it, keeping the volume at 5 or so then adjusting upwards to listen to music and turning back down immediately after. i rarely go above 50 or 55, usually 15 – 25 – 40 is sufficient. just turn down after listening to content you’re intending to listen to and be careful to balance things in real time, for example going from one youtube song to the next. best of luck to you.

          • It’s true that today’s music and behavior might be a little too much for this design but keeping it at a moderate level should extend its serviceability. Here’s to hoping they revive the form factor anew. Logitech really had something here

  • Hey Mark,
    thanks for your work and the article. I used your insights to replace one speaker 🙂 The rubber goes of very easily using a heat gun.
    The replacement speaker I used is a Visaton BF 32 S 4 Ohm. The holes for the screws have the exact dimensions. Just a little clipping of the plastic was needed to fit the speaker in.

    Thanks again and cheers from Germany
    Alexander

  • And here I am in Germany, just ten days after Alexander’s post, and can’t believe my luck! After spending hours looking for a replacement of my beautiful Z305 and nearly fainting when I saw they sell for 999 $ now, I just ordered the ipad one in sheer desperation.
    And then I find your site, Mark, and all the fabulous comments and now I see the light at the end of the tunnel – thank all of you soooo much.
    I can go happily to sleep now and dream about putting ten screws back in – ha!
    I guess I’ll just try nail polish – works great on silk stockings – so maybe also on the fine rip in the membrane.
    All the best to you and thanks again!!!