The answer is that your bass cabinet is heavily affected by the environment it is in, and where you are standing in relation to it. What you hear is the sound of your speakers mixed in with the reflected sounds from the walls, ceilings and floors. Basically, your speaker has a different sound on and off axis and the further you are away from it the more sound energy that is reflected is blended into the sound. If the room acoustics are not ideal, the sound that you’ll get will be uneven and muddy.

EQ is NOT the answer!
The EAR Box produces a near field sound that, when positioned close to you, will give you far greater clarity because it greatly increases the ratio of direct sound to the undesirable acoustics of the venue. It does not produce the full spectrum of a bass; it blends it in with the low frequencies of your cabinet.

Standing in front of your bass rig up gives you the most clarity, but at the expense of your audience. Your body will block the mid range and high soaking them up like a sponge.  So your audience will hear a far more degraded sound than you.