very annoying sound!

[Sean]

I am running kde 3.3 and there is one very annoying sound that I cannot 
find where to turn off.
Whenever the system bell beeps there is also a sound of someone trying 
to clear their throat. It is driving me crazy!

I have tried turning all sound on, all sounds off, going through sounds 
one by one, resets and default options.
I cannot turn this sound off.

Can anyone help before insanity takes over?

Thanks
Sean