well yeah, technically if the sound doesn't have a straight path to your ear it'll be muffled.
However, it's not uncommon for the base speakers to not even point towards someone or even pointed towards the ground. Some bass box's for cars will have the base pointing inside the box so that it resonates all inside that and then throughout the vehicle.
This projects the bass and gives you that more rumbly bass feel and a complete sound.
Experiment to find where it absolutely sounds best