For the least amount of money I believe the U-Turn Orbit is an excellent option. At their lowest price they don’t even have a cue lever, but you can pick the custom configuration and choose exactly what matters to you. On the other hand you could go with an Audio-Technica AT-LP120, which comes in a few different versions. Those offer quick cartridge replacement via a removable headshell. I know Audio-Technica turnables aren't very popular with us audiophile types, but I do believe they're are made well enough that you could put a very expensive cartridge (hundreds of $) on them and still not be off balance with allocation of funds. Neither of these turntables look like cherishable heirlooms, but I think they both sound excellent and that you'd be hard pressed to tell them from much more expensive models when they're behind a curtain.
how much should I spend to get a better turntable than my current turntable?
You want details hah!
I bet....
CURRENT: mmf-2.2. A lemon, a complete junk in my opinion. A disaster from the start. What I can I do with it? It was delivered with missing screws, the lift arm level broke in 3 months, all I got in the name of warranty a list of things not under warranty. I don't want to criticize the brand, maybe I just got unlucky, they are otherwise great.
What should I get for the littlest investment that would work better than this wobbly, squeaky thing?