Refrigerator noise

Seriously guys, how do you deal with it? My fridge is in the vicinity of my living room with all my equipment. It's pretty old machine, and the compressor is making noise almost half the time it's on ( seems to me pretty unusual, when I go to see my friends I never hear anything). I even set the level lower, but to no avail. Anybody with a similar problem? How can you check noise of a new fridge in a fairly loud environment of big store? Any recommendation (brand names)? No ice boxes please... :-)