US2 Sonar Quality

I have a Lowrance HDS Live unit on my bow that I am using the transducer from my Ulterra. I am having problems in shallow water and also the the quality of the US2 transducer seems poor when I am in deeper water. Is this just the way these transducers are? I have read that they are not the best transducer. Is there certain settings I should be using with Lowrance that could improve the quality? I have transducer set to generic 83-200. If I decide to install another transducer on my Ulterra what would you recommend? I am not looking for the down imaging or side imaging I just want something that would work better with my HDS Live.

They are a generic transducer designed to work with all brands of depth finders. Like most tools designed to do multiple things, it does an OK job most of the time but never does a great job.