Oh dear, I’ve bought an “ugly duckling”. Never had a problem with it in 7 years though.
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UQ2 here, great kit. For upgrade if speakers (not stated) can cope, + 1 for Nova as proposed by HH.
A Nova will long outlast a Star, is available from dealers from time to time, pre-owned, likely with warranty.
The Star is part mechanical, which will enjoy likely a shorter life.
Keep cdp in the short term, but imho based on experience with a Naim streamer, rip favourite cds with a cheap cd reader (c.£35) to pc, store on a usb device, which can connect to Nova. Thereafter have a subscription to T or Q, both of which will stream magnificently to Nova, with the benefit of adding new music choices, via streaming or iRadio + favoruites available from rips!
As suggested, avoid Star and indeed anything mechanical for long life.
While there is a Naim streamer here with lots if loaded cds, increasingly streaming from one or more of the on-line servcies!
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I only use my Nova with an SSD connected. It works like a charm.
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I’m sure it’s great, it’s simply the one that gets bought less than the others.
I went from a musical fidelity amp, Chord DaC and Cyrus cd transport to the Star one box and find it sounds better than my previous set up.
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Just for reference my friend runs PMC twenty 21’s sometimes with a rel sub think it’s a model 9 , sometimes when I call round the sub is hooked up other times its not depends on how he’s feeling 
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Mine hasn’t missed a beat but tbh I grabbed it in the A2A fire sale in Australia for $A3900 v retail $A8600…and it most certainly is a big step up from the Uniti2 and a huge value buy at under half retail
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I would probably stay with what he has, keep the money. But if the need to change and maybe simplify, I would say check out the Lindemann Combo, and just use a simple Apple Super Drive into the Combo’s USB for CD replay. Sounds great, simple setup. 
I have auditioned all three, and ended up buying the Star. For me it’s the sweet spot in the Uniti range, even when you disregard the CD playing/ripping functionality. It’s a step up from the Atom and very close to the Nova while still significantly cheaper and then the CD functionality is an additional bonus.
Speakers might play a role here though, something difficult to drive might prefer the extra grunt the Nova can provide, thus widening the gap between it and the Star.
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Indeed, I have SCM11 speakers, which I originally almost sold on after a month or so, but having persevered am now very happy with. I accept that they’ll probably sound better with more power, but I’m happy as is. I’m still using my original A4 cable, so presumably the Star will cope with other “difficult” load speakers, too?
In my environment the speakers are on steel stands, on Isopuck minis, which improved the sound, positioned in front of curtains with the speaker fronts 48-50 cm from the rear wall, slightly toed in, if it helps.
God luck
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I just wanted to update the thread and thank everyone that made a contribution , after a ride to my friends dealer he is now the proud owner of a Nova and he is absolutely delighted with it ,over the moon with the way his system sounds, he is going through an awful time at the moment and I’m so happy for him seeing him delighted with the new purchase , music has the ability to make those dark days that little bit more bearable.
In fact I’m so impressed I might borrow it to try in my system, at a latter date of course.
The only issue he has is the weight of the Nova we both couldn’t believe how heavy it was so I had to lift it into the rack for him, I also found out first hand how sharp the heat sinks are!
Happy days all round, cheers folks.
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That’s great. The Nova is lovely and I wish him well.
Thanks HH appreciate your help.
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