Occasional popping sound from bluetooth speakers

I have a 15" 2017 MBP (Touch Bar + ID) running High Sierra 10.13.6. My trusty Klipsch Promedia 2.1 speakers of 10+ years finally died, so I replaced them with the newer version that supports Bluetooth. Everything works fantastic EXCEPT when there is no audio playing (like my music playlist has finished, or is on pause). When there is no audio, there is an occasional pop sound from the speakers.

I have tried the following:

1) Enable aptX/AAC codecs (speakers only seem to connect via SBC)

2) Reset Bluetooth module

3) Reboot computer

4) Test speakers with Google Pixel 2 phone (no popping sound)

Using the Bluetooth Explorer app and watching the status and event log, I have noticed that the popping sound seems to coincide with mode changes in the Bluetooth module when the system goes from "Active" mode to "Sniff" (and back).

Has anyone else noticed this before?