Update:
Received the Beosound 1 from the seller in Austria: slight damage to the front bottom corner where some plastic cracked, and the very bottom corner of the metal grill was flattened: out of view next to my desk anyway. Purchased a voltage converter from RadioShack on the way to work.
Plugged it in: no juice.
Called another RadioShack in the area to verify if they had a replacement: brought the Be in with me and it worked: original converter was faulty.
Popped in a CD: scraping noise! checked it out, and a piece of the broken plastic had somehow worked it's way into the CD section: removed and working fine!
Total cost, including shipping from Austria to US: $400.00, converter $42.79. I'm pretty happy with the find: bass response could be better on these units, and the lack of treble/bass adjustment is a bummer, but not bad for the office, given the price. Now to find a cheap remote so I can bring the Beo4 back home! Thanks all for your input.