masi61
... is there some inherent electrical noise from the motor that makes it way into the analog signal thus producing an audible distortion through the cartridge/phono stage?There shouldn't be if it's a decent turntable and is properly setup. That doesn't mean that motor vibrations couldn't find their way into the audio signal, but electrical noise from the motor shouldn't be an issue.
I’m also curious about why an AC motor would be less desirable than a DC motor (for a belt driven turntable.I don't think that a DC turntable motor has any inherent advantage over an AC motor at all and in fact, the opposite may be true.