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@bombcup
TBH you can make some improvements to these machines but if you want to make good tasty coffee you are much better off sticking to manual brewing methods with high quality fresh coffee.
The inherent obstacles with these machines are firstly as you have discovered the pressurised basket, second is the flimsy lightweight portafilter which has no thermal stability and very quickly sucks the heat out of the brew with bad results for the coffee.
Thidly is the thermoblock water heater which heats the water to who knows what temperature, but there's no differentiation between brew temp and steam temp so it's way to high for good espresso
Fourth is the pump which delivers 15 bar in order to force coffee through the crema enhancing basket. Good espresso is delivered between 8-9 bar.
Sorry for the bad news, I'm just trying to illustrate that these machines are not really fit for purpose. Gaggia Classic and grinder is the minimum entry requirement for home espresso and even then you need to want to make it into a new hobby to get results. My advice is always that espresso is just another brew method, not the best brew method. Look at the scarcity of really great espresso in actual coffee shops and you'll appreciate how much effort quality espresso actually is. It was invented as a way to serve freshly brewed coffee quickly, not to enhance quality. Unless you really want to immerse yourself in coffee geekery and spend a lot of money on equipment then stick to using great coffee in whichever brewer floats your boat and leave espresso drinks as a treat to be served by professionals (if you're lucky enough to live somewhere near a good espresso bar)