First...have you investigated whether the tonearm support may have cracked due to age? This is a common problem for this table.
Is your current cartridge set up correctly? That is, other than using the crude overhang gauge that came with the table and other mounting parameters. When I first bought the table I used the supplied AT cartridge and was satisfied with the performance for a long time. I have tried a few different cartridges over the years with different results. Whatever cartridge you decide on is your choice. Tryouts for those is mostly limited.
One thing to remember if you buy a new cartridge is to set the correct tracking weight in accordance to the specified value.....This is a direct drive turntable. The most sensible thing to do is to set all the weight values to zero, set the tonearm so it is level, and then dial in the tracking weight. This is correct except for one step.....the auto mechanism must be eliminated to perform this correctly. There is an online manual that explains how to do that.
My Pioneer currently uses a Grado Gold cartridge. I feed it into a Graham Slee phono stage. I am happy with the sound. Your Pioneer is a good table. Sure, there are many more out there that perform better and with more expensive cartridges. But, it is a good table. Stay with it if you're happy.