Any poorly performing link in the chain of reproduction can have detrimental effect on fidelity and listening enjoyment.
Having said that, there is no guarantee that more $$ spent on one component type over another will be worth the money.
I think this is especially true when it comes to streaming audio quality.
Case in point: some multi-thousand dollar streamers from very well known and reputable manufacturers use RASPBERRY PI as their processor.
And I know from my own experience that the RPI sounds incredible with the right DAC hat. And I bought my RPI 4 for about $60 and the hat for an additional $60.