Hi everyone - thank you so much for the quick replies. To answer your questions:
1. the turntable is sitting right between the 2 speakers, roughly 3 feet from each. It is sitting about 2 feet above the receiver with all of the connections.
2. The popping has been heard all all sources, from HDMI sources to analog connections and also the iPod/iPhone
3. I have not tried running the system with only 2 channels connected
4. I honestly have a hard time remembering if the issue happened prior to hooking up the subwoofer, I believe it did
5. My front speakers are connected directly to the receiver
6. The turntable is about 3 feet from the subwoofer, as it sits behind the stereo cabinet the turntable is on top of
7. speakers are getting pretty old, I would venture 10 - 12 years.
It is bizarre to me that whichever of the 2 front speakers is plugged into the LEFT FRONT output makes this popping sound. That makes me think instantly that it must be the receiver, but like I said this is receiver number 2 having the identical issue.
Thanks again so much for your input.