Based on suggestions given thus far, I may look at some other issues besides the actual turntable, including VTA, azimuth, and also quality of pressings like you mentioned. If I was to get a new turntable, budget would be $1200-$2,000.
Based on your budget, Rega P6. Before upgrading your turntable, possibly pick-up a handful of used NM- classical LPs. Local dealers offer them at most reasonable prices. Worth a shot IMO.
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Perhaps I missed it, but what type of noise are you referring to? Record (pops, clicks, groove wear, inner groove distortion), System related (hum, lack of clarity, hissing)?
If you are intending to go long term in analogue reproduction I would agree with other posters and get a quality turntable, cartridge, phono stage and record cleaning equipment. You are not likely to be sorry about it. Do it piecemeal if you need to.
There are a lot of really good TTās in the price range you mention.
Thereās just enough motor and system hum to disrupt soft passages. Need a darker background.
Ah, so itās not record surface noise then? Thatās a somewhat different kettle of fish. 
System hum could be a grounding issue, could be a cart issue (although I donāt recall the 2M Blue being prone to hum pickup). Motor noise interference could be an isolation issue. This opens up the problem space quite a bit, Iām afraid.
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Make sure you gound your motor as well as your tonearm and also, make sure your phono cable has a very good shield as a lot of noise can be picked up from the cable. Keep power cables away from you phono cable, interconnects, and transformers away from your phono preamp and you should be good.
Iāll also mention that I had some low-end noise that I am sure came from other nearby equipment. I did some experiments with difference cables and finally solved it. Iām not home now and canāt quite remember which cables I ended up with - but can report back.
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How do I ground the motor and tonearm?
It may not be necessary, or may be a bit complicated. From the U-Turn website -
The Orbit is internally grounded through the shielding of the left RCA output, so no external ground wire is needed (even if your phono preamp has a ground screw or terminal).
So if itās already grounded, trying to ground the tonearm (again) could just create a ground loop. If, OTOH, the motor casing is not grounded, it may be worth trying to ground the motor.
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You can test if the tonearm and motor is gounded with a electrical continuity tester first. If they are gounded already, then no need to do it again. My old Well Tempered motor was 2 prong plug and was not gounded and made a lot of buzzing noise. I attached a wire from a screw on the metal chassis of the motor to the chassis of a grounded component and the noise went away.
Also some phono cables are really noisy and some are really quiet. You might want to play around with that also.
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OK, so the high noise floor/hum was due to using unshielded RCAās. It appears Iāve achieved a background that is quiet enough to satisfy me now that Iāve switched to the shielded RCAās. 
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That could be a money saving bonus!
Glad you got your noise issues straightened out. But if you decide you want to upgrade, I still have my VPI Scout with an Ortofon 2M Bronze for sale. Perfect working condition, with low hours on the cartridge, and includes a dustcover and Black Diamond Racing carbon fiber isolation pucks (for the 'table feet) and isolation platform (for the motor). If youāre anywhere near Indianapolis (I really donāt want to ship it), you can have it for $1200.
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Hey, thatās a nice setup for a nice price!
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Wish I was closer. Thatās a heck of a deal.