speaker recommendations?

NHT M-OO powered monitors with a Bellari VP-129 phono preamp. It has a volume control and a headphone jack. A passive pre-amp can be added for little money if you want multiple inputs and a sub if you need more bass. All this can be done incrementally. Your space is too small to warrant concern about most of the audiophile issues you see addressed here.
I wouldn't spend a lot of money unless you will be using headphones, in which case the room is not an issue. Not only is your room small, it is a cube. That's the worst acoustic obstacle you can face so headphone or very nearfield are your best bets.

Are you sure the 8' X 8' dimensions are correct? If so, the most difficult thing is that you don't have a "fairly small room", you have an incredibly small room. So small as to not be able to overcome the room issues that will present themselves.

While it may be surprising to many of us here, because we tend to deal with 4 to 5 figure pricetags, you can pick up a lot of good loudspeakers in your pricerange. You just need to play in the used speaker lot. Early 1970s Japanese loudspeakers from the likes of Sansui would be something to look at, they are very easy to drive and have a really engaging, yet not harsh, tone. Also, maybe a pair of used Vandersteen 1, Dahlquist, ESS, or Fried loudspeakers.

I second Macrojack good suggestion.

I'll give a third nod to Macrojack, especially if you have a standard 8' ceiling.

Problems associated with square rooms can be mostly alleviated by using a setup arranged on the diagonel .
Setup your speakers in one corner firing to the opposite corner where your listening position is . I learned this from an amp and speaker designer , it works for me in a 10'X10' room . The trade off , there is always a trade off , is that your soundstage will be compromised somewhat .

Good luck .