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Hidden way back in the site in articles from 2009 and 2010 are two articles that show something important about how the low range works — at least how it works correctly.
Vibrating with no interference
The 2010 article (here) shows high speed video of a low C on a horn, but the video is not nearly as clear as the 2009 article (here), which is of trombonists. The key spot on the trombone video is starting at the spot highlighted below, and watch it for the first 30 seconds that follow.
The player was a leading studio bass trombone player. The key thing to observe is that the lower lip is down and out of the way (and hardly vibrates), and the upper lip moves freely with a large, flapping motion.
What this means for you
The short answer is that if you have a buzzy, reedy sounding, or low-power low C, you are not getting to an optimal position for the low C.
I cover a lot of options toward a better low range in my Low Range Boot Camp book, but not the visual angle that you can observe in this video. Because if you are otherwise in the ballpark for a low C, most likely there is some interference from your lower lip making it so that upper does not freely vibrate.
I did not set out to focus on the low range…
A final item for today is that with perspective on now many years of teaching I am sure I focus on the low range more than most teachers. Certainly more than I did as a younger teacher. This is out of a sense of this is the key area most players need to improve, and it certainly is critical toward moving you to the upper tier of horn playing. If your low range needs work, be honest with yourself, get resources, get advice from good teachers, get to work!
