So I finally found the reason for the crackling and cutting out in my situation. It was disturbances from other devices near by that are paired with (and trying to connect to) my phone that I was playing music from. Solution:
# Identify bluetooth devices (other speakers, headphones etc) in your home that are paired with the device you are playing music from and turn them off.
# Hard reset the jbl speakers your are trying to connect together.
# Connect one of the jbl speakers to your music source (phone, etc).
# Start playing music.
# Connect the jbl speakers using the connect feature.