Thoughts about buying a Bedini 100

The electronics rework sounds simple for a competant tech - but should it cost around $500?

Given what I've experienced doing exactly this, that doesn't sound that far off.

The Bedini is a fairly simple amp- so if it works at all, then the main filter caps and the filter caps on the circuit boards should be replaced. That should take care of it if the amp is otherwise in good shape. This isn't that crazy hard to do. Once sorted out, they tend to be on the smoother side as most solid state amps go and that single quality puts them near the top of the heap to this day.

Bedini amps are solid state. But they are pretty nice sounding as solid state goes. I recommend you get the filter capacitors in the power supply replaced before pressing them into service!