Josh,
You can buy a brand new blacksmith anvil in the 100-125 lb range for about $500-600 from a farrier or blacksmith supply - there are several in Florida. Yes, you can forge a blade on a square 5-6" anvil face but not much else. My JHM has turning studs, pritchel hole, hardy hole (hot cutting...) and a horn. If you have any heavy drawing to do, you'll learn to love that horn. If you want to straighten a longer piece of steel, you'll appreciate the long anvil face. Mount a 100-125 lb anvil on some timbers and you'll have a nice setup. Maybe it's just me, but if you're only going to own one anvil, or ever get the itch to do some artistic forging, maybe versatility is a desirable attribute. As to the ringing that you find objectionable (Yeah,that was my anvil - hang a weighted leather strap over the horn when you're not using it. Actually, if you're using the sweet spot and not hitting cold steel, ringing should be minimal to non-existant. The old time smiths would say that you'll go to hell for hammering cold steel...for that and not charging enough money.
You should never strike the bare face of your anvil with a hammer (like on TV) - this will make it ring loudly and possibly damage either the anvil or the hammer.
Search for blacksmith and farrier suppliers - there's one a couple miles from my house and go check out some anvils. You might also find somebody upgrading that's willing to sell you a used anvil. Good luck!
Just checked Craigslist and the farrier supply by my house has a sale on some pretty nice anvils in the 100-125 lb range
TFS Farriers Anvil, 125 lb, list = $637, cash price = $445.90 plus tax
Delta Future 1 Farriers Anvil 89 lb, list = $595, cash price = $416.50 plus tax
TFS Blacksmiths Anvil 100 lb, list = $525, cash price = $367.50 plus tax
NC Big Face 3 - 67 lb, list = $327, cash price = $228.90 plus tax