As does my Philips one, the leather has degraded is coming off in pieces even though I did not use it much (and the leather never touched anything while in storage). The only thing I can think of that contributes to the degradation is sweat (that remained on the surface). As for your speakers, those amplifier I.Cs will be snipped off (cut the pins) as those remaining degraded glue are really stubborn and difficult to get it out (already tried other solvents also to try to soften and dissolve the glue). The other day, I thought had completed repairs on a Logitech Z506, only to have the power supply blow again when cranking up the volume. Believe it or not, this Logitech speaker is rated at 75WRMS and yet the power supply (switching type) is only a paltry 35W! Still many repairs in tow...