Here's my take on this (not that it matters LOL) ....
I do think Portnoy is a bit of a drama queen. I could be totally wrong, but from what I've read in interviews and on his forum and from seeing him in interviews, he just seems like the type of guy that this Havona person is describing. He seems like the type that is a control freak and perhaps resents David Prater for making an amazing album and for being in charge during that period in the band's history. Could be wrong, so bosk don't ban me - will edit my post if you want. I'm just giving my impression. Honestly, no disrespect meant to DT.
On the other hand, I'M SURE that the truth lies somwhere in the middle. I'm sure that some of Portnoy's comments are accurate and I'm sure some of what Prater has said is accurate. I'm also sure that both of them probably exaggerate the "bad" things that the other person did and have acted like cry-babies to some extent. I'm sure of these two things because that's how people act. Neither of them are completely right or completely wrong. There is middle ground and the problem with discussing this is that NONE OF US WERE THERE, so WE DON'T KNOW. Havona supposedly was there, but we have no details, so he or she is useless in my opinion. I'd personally disregard his or her posts entirely. Prater allegedly took this person out to dinner all the time, so yeah, that's an unbiased source.
So, the point: Images & Words is an amazing album. Triggered snare, blah blah..... who gives a crap? There's stuff about Petrucci's tone that I don't like. Some of his tones are over-processed and way too bright for my tastes. For the most part, I like it, but I'm not about to crucify David Prater because there are one or two things I don't like about JP's guitar tone. It was the early 90's and Prater captured the sound of that time.
Does it stand up nowadays? Musically, definitely. Sonically? Some of it yes, some of it no. But, there are a lot of albums like that. A lot of DT's newer albums will be sonically dated in a few years (downtuned guitars, growling vocals, all that 'heavy' stuff DT does now). Are we going to go blaming Portnoy for that stuff in 10 years? Let's just enjoy the album for the MASTERPIECE it is. I think discussing the trigged snare issue is fine, but this ridiculous argument of Portnoy vs. Prater is stupid and useless. No one will ever know the truth.