The hierarchy of what will affect your sound the most is

Quality of media (in this case vinyl albums)

Speakers

Cartridge

Turntable

Amplifier

within reason, of course. Thousand dollar speakers won't do much if your other equipment is ridiculously cheap or if the record is damaged.

The more you spend on a component generally means higher quality, less noise, less distortion, etc. You should read a variety of reviews, while keeping in mind that most professional reviews will never say a piece of equipment is bad or overpriced, you kind of have to read between the lines to figure that out. User reviews tend to be overly positive because of course purchasers like to believe that they selected the right component. But do your research before you buy.