HomePod stereo pair leg/delay issue when pausing or changing songs

Hi. I have two HomePods that form a stereo pair. They synch up fine during playback, but when you pause or switch songs one is always half a second behind the other, which sounds horrid.

Is this normal behaviour or have a got a duff HomePod (or 2)? The router lives in the same room and the internet is fast and stable.

When I first received the second HomePod I had all sorts of pairing problems- only one playing at a time, volume on each not matching, volume inexplicably rising and falling on each HomePod, one cutting out, etc. I fully reset both a few times, but that didn't fix it, and I was recommended by Apple tech support to post the new one back if the problems continued (before the end of the initial 14 day window). A couple of days later I changed my router from BT to Sky, and updated the software again to 14.3 (both happened the same day), and those problems are now 99% sorted. Only twice has one of the pair refused to join in. The pause/change song lag/delay remains, and it is unpleasant. Does everyone experience this? Thanks!