bombaywalla,no, I don't think speaker distance is irrelevant - it is very relevant. True, the SPL meter measures sound pressure where you are physically standing/sitting in the room but still it is at a certain distance from the speaker. If you take 1 step closer to the speaker, the SPL will go up. If you take 1 step back, the SPL will go down. If you raise yourself 1 foot off the floor, the SPL will change (I think it should go down as the distance to the speaker is more. You have to calculate the hypotenuse of the triangle which is greater than the 2 other sides).
When we say at seating position, I assume we measured the db using the SPL meter while seated. At least I did. This means speaker distance is irrelevant because it is measured where you are at. Simple logic.
Distance from the speaker matters.....