Well im a premium member so i really dont know wht your talking about,
why not get premium member? gold star is good enough, no sounds, and you can join more tournaments etc.
An extra 3 bucks isnt gonna kill you and it is worth it!
So you should try to consider this.
Great site, but the new advertisement where you have to 'punch' a celeb is very distracting. You certainly can't have Chess.com running in the office anymore without the sound off.